This Doctor, That Doctor
by dustycaramac
Summary: Rose Tyler has been living in the alternate universe for about a year, give or take. She works at Torchwood with her co-worker, Kenny, and her job is to find aliens. But what happens when she comes upon a very familiar alien? No, not that one. This one.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

Rose Tyler had forgotten the meaning of the phrase a normal day at the office. In fact, she couldn't remember if she even knew what a normal day at the office was. Sure, every day in the shop had been about as boring as watching paint dry; nowadays she found herself unable to listen to the beeping of tills without becoming skittish. But a normal day at the office? No.

Almost as soon as she'd applied for the job at Torchwood, she'd been accepted. It wasn't just because of Pete Tyler's position as the head of Torchwood- or so she liked to think. No, Rose was independent. She could get another job in the space of time it took to click her fingers. She'd only have to take a few A Levels first.

She was immediately given an office on the ground floor. The ground floor was noisy, what with all of the aliens and personnel coming in and out of the building. Still, most employees weren't assigned an office at all when they first started out. Rose considered herself lucky.

For the first few days, she'd had several tons of paperwork thrown at her- at least, that's what it felt like. She'd proofread all of them and edited them skilfully, something she had quite a talent for, she'd found. After about a week, things got more exciting.

She had been assigned to a man called Kenny, and pretty much from the word go everything had been hectic. Kenny was funny, easy to talk to, energetic and absolutely _gorgeous_ . Rose had often found it very difficult not to stare, but she'd managed to hold it in after working with him for a while. Kenny was just Kenny, and a friend was just a friend, and, as the Doctor had told her once- four leafed clovers were just vegetation. She wasn't lucky to have met Kenny, because she wasn't meant for Kenny. Not like she was meant for the Doctor.

They'd gone on several whirlwind assignments together- everything from catching Weevils to more exciting expeditions, such as chasing a giant lizard that was terrorising the city of London. That had been one of their most interesting assignments so far, Rose had decided. Everything else had been standard.

Just like this. Chin rested in one of her hands, Rose fiddled with the device in her hand nonchalantly, awaiting Kenny's return. He had hared off in search of the Weevil that they'd been tracking since about ten o' clock, and Rose hadn't seen him for a good twenty minutes.

She shivered and slipped the device into the pocket of her bomber jacket, zipping it up and hugging herself to try and keep warm. If he hadn't contacted her in five minutes, she'd try and contact him- and if he didn't reply… she was calling for reinforcements. Weevils could be nasty- there was no denying that.

Suddenly, a high-pitched beeping sound came from the device that she had just put away. Fishing it out again, Rose inspected it and raised her eyebrows at the red blip on it, which seemed to be moving at a leisurely stroll. She lifted her wrist comm to her mouth. "Kenny? The Weevil's come back into range of my tracker. Are you on it?" Silence. "Kenny?"

Rose wet her lips with her tongue, heaving a sigh and tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Kenny, I'm going to go after it. I'll see you soon if you're any good at tracking."

Switching off her wrist comm, Rose rechecked the tracking device and set off in the direction of the blip. This was always Rose's approach to things- if she walks very slowly, then the Weevil might not think that she's a threat and will therefore let down its guard. Her theory hadn't failed her yet, and she hoped it never would.

It was after about ten minutes of wandering that Rose finally came upon the red dot, which had become stationary during the time she had spent getting to the location. She muted the sound on the device and put it into her pocket.

She was in an alleyway. Not just an alleyway, though- a completely deserted alleyway. There was a silver dustbin lurking to her left and two big recycling boxes at the end of it. Tentatively, Rose reached for her Weevil spray.

"I know you're here!" she said, heading past the dustbin (which was too small to house a Weevil) and down towards the recycling boxes. "There's no point hiding. I'll find you."

An eerie silence greeted her words, and she stepped forward again, moving her body defensively and raising the Weevil spray to shoulder level. "Just come out, yeah? I'm not going to hurt you."

A hand on her shoulder made her spin round. She frantically sprayed the bottle- just once, in case it was Kenny. He was used to her ways and didn't particularly mind getting the liquid in his eye from time to time if it made Rose feel more secure. It was only really damaging to Weevils, anyway.

"Argh! That smarts."

The figure was bent double, clutching his face, quite clearly in pain. He wasn't Kenny, but he wasn't a Weevil either. "Oh, God!" Rose exclaimed, hastily tucking the spray away for a moment, forgetting all about the Weevil that she was supposed to be searching for. "I'm sorry. Are you all right?"

"Fine, yeah. Just grand! Ouch. What is that stuff?"

That voice. His voice. "It's… it's Weevil spray. I… are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm all right," the man reassured her, standing up properly and removing his hand from his face. "What are you doing here?"

Rose's heart twittered. Rose's stomach twittered. In fact, her whole body twittered and she jarred, clenching her teeth. "Um, I was hunting a… there was this… um…" She could feel herself going red and, incredibly flustered, she turned around in embarrassment. She pulled out the tracking device. Its screen was bright red. She was right next to the alien life form that she had been tracking. _Great_.

"Weevil?" the man asked, with a smile as she turned back. Rose nodded. "What's your name?"

"Rose. Rose Tyler." No recognition flittered across his face, and Rose's heart sank. She took a deep breath and asked softly, "Yours?"

"I'm the Doctor." Before she had a chance to respond, he went on, "This Weevil you're talking about. Is it brown? Quite tall? Really sharp teeth?" Rose nodded, her mouth dry. "Yes; I've been searching for it, too. They keep escaping from the rift-" He hesitated.

"I know what the rift is," Rose said quietly.

A million possibilities were running through her mind as to who this Doctor could be. Since his life was so dangerous, it could always be the same one, with his memory erased. Or… the name Ricky suddenly sprang to mind, and she swallowed. This Doctor could be this universe's version of the Doctor. The thought sent her mind spinning out of control.

She'd tried hard to put a lid on her feelings for the Doctor, and it had worked perfectly after a few months of living in this universe. She thought she had been in love with so many people, but Rose only realised what love was after meeting the Doctor. This was a little too much for her to take, though.

"Are you all right?" this Doctor asked, his chocolate brown eyes flooding with concern. She smiled weakly. She had missed that look from him. She had seen it so many times, but it still wasn't enough.

"I'm fine, fine-"

"Rose!"

Rose turned to see Kenny running up behind her, his gun out. He was aiming it around the three of them, hastily explaining, "There's a Weevil here, Rose. Get out your spray. What are you doing standing around like that?"

Rose shifted her glance from Kenny to this Doctor, biting her lip warily. This was going to be hard to explain, she just knew it. "Kenny- there's no Weevil here. I've checked, don't worry."

Kenny looked confused, but put his gun away almost immediately. He trusted Rose greatly; that, she could see in his grey eyes. "But the tracker-"

"-is detecting an alien life form, I know." Rose looked at this Doctor pointedly, who squirmed a little under her gaze. Kenny noticed.

"Him? _You_?" he said, addressing this Doctor with a fiery glare. Rose could see where this was going, but she was too curious to stop it. "What kind of alien are you?"

This Doctor responded, "I'm a Time Lord."

At the same time, Rose said, "He's a Time Lord." They both looked at each other, this Doctor's expression one of puzzlement. Rose cleared her throat and broke eye contact.

"A Time Lord," Kenny repeated monotonously, his eyes surveying this Doctor warily.

"That's right- a Time Lord. Hooray!" this Doctor said, although his voice betrayed deeper feeling. Rose immediately thought: _Time War_.

Kenny gave Rose a confused look, which she returned, attempting not to give too much about the situation away. She just hoped that both of them forgot how she knew what this Doctor's species had been. "I'm going to have to ask you to come with us, Mr…?"

"Doctor."

"Dr…"

"No, just the Doctor."

Not being able to correct people for him frustrated Rose. It was a habit that she'd got into whilst travelling with the Doctor, and having to restrain herself from speaking for this Doctor made her more unhappy than she believed was healthy.

"So if you'll step this way," Kenny continued.

This Doctor stepped backwards, and Rose looked around for the familiar police box which, no doubt, he was about to step into and disappear off with. She couldn't see it. Maybe if she'd been able to find it in the alleyway with her vision, she wouldn't have done what she did next- but who knew?

She launched herself forward, catching his wrist and holding it tightly. He looked down at her, his expression a frown. Electricity- at least that was what it felt like- crackled through Rose. Just touching him sparked such a fierce intensity that she wanted to pull him close and take him where they were both standing- Kenny or no Kenny. She gasped and caught herself, managing to prevent herself from pulling his head towards hers.

"Please," she begged. "Please come with us." She could feel tears welling up in her eyes but she blinked them away angrily before letting go of his wrist. She knew that she had piqued his curiosity- and whenever her Doctor's curiosity had been piqued, he would stop at nothing to discover things. This Doctor was clearly the same.

"Okay," he said mildly, his expression softening. She turned away and nodded to Kenny, who spread his arm and indicated for this Doctor to step out of the alleyway. This Doctor complied, Kenny and Rose following in his wake.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Rose-"

"I know, I know! Just hold on a minute, will you?"

So this was why Pete was always telling her to tidy her desk.

She could not, for the life of her, find the form that every employee was supposed to fill in when they brought an alien prisoner back to the building. Inwardly, she groaned. This was so unprofessional and embarrassing, especially in front of this particular alien prisoner.

She sneaked a glance at him. He had his arms folded across his chest, his body leaning slightly sideways, and he was smiling amusedly. Worst of all- he caught her looking. She cleared her throat and looked away, rummaging through some more papers.

"Yes!" She lifted a blank application form up, slamming it onto the desk in front of Kenny. "I found it."

"Finally," Kenny joked, with a smile, and pulled the form towards him, getting out a pen. "Right- name? Do you want me to put 'Doctor' or 'the Doctor'?"

"The Doctor," this Doctor said, coming forward and leaning over the form. "Hey- prisoner number?" he squeaked, sounding hurt.

"Well. You're not a prisoner. Not really. I mean, it's not like cell blocks and solitary confinement. It's just…" Kenny trailed off, at a loss of how to explain.

"Finding out who you are and what you're doing here," Rose supplied quietly. This Doctor looked at her, his expression curious, as always. Ever since the little scene in the alleyway, he'd been looking at her like that. It was unnerving, especially the blankness and the fact that he had no idea who she was.

"Age?"

This Doctor looked down at the form. "One hundred and six."

Rose stared at him, open-mouthed. "That's not your age!" she challenged.

"Why not?" this Doctor asked her, quirking an eyebrow.

"Because- because-" Rose spluttered, before finally settling on, "You don't look one hundred and six!"

"Yes, Rose," Kenny said patiently, "but he's an alien."

"Right. Yeah, sorry I…" She trailed off, tucking some hair behind her ear. "I forgot."

Kenny and this Doctor finished off the rest of the form together. Rose kept her lips tightly sealed together in case she said something else that was stupid- or else that would give away the fact that she knew more than she was letting on. Kenny signed the form and passed it to Rose, who also noted down her signature.

"Right, I'll take you down then, shall I?" Kenny asked, addressing this Doctor. "You can go off for lunch, Rose. Alex said that Carrie caught that Weevil, so there's no use stressing about that. Oh, and I think Mickey was trying to get in contact with you."

Rose quickly looked at this Doctor, but again he did not give away anything that might have told her that he knew who Mickey was. Rose sighed, nodded, and waved the two of them away. Kenny left, this Doctor in tow, and Rose sat down at her desk, her head in her hands.

She stayed there for a little while, mulling everything over in her head, before pulling the telephone towards her and dialling the number of Mickey's office. She waited for him to respond, and said, "Hey Mickey. I really need to talk to you. Can we meet for lunch?"

"Hey, Mick." Rose put her handbag by her feet and sat opposite Mickey, grabbing a menu as she did so. "Sorry I'm late, Alex dumped a couple of pages of paperwork on me which I had to fill out before I left."

"That's all right." Mickey smiled as he sat down. He knew something was wrong immediately, or that something was on her mind- she would have recognised his move to hug her if she hadn't been distracted. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah fine. I just needed someone to talk to, that's all." Rose sighed and ordered a lemonade. Mickey wanted nothing but Rose's attention.

"So talk," he said.

Rose swallowed and nodded, leaning forward conspiratorially. "Mickey, you know the Torchwood in the other universe?" she asked. Mickey nodded, his eyebrows raised. "Do you remember when I told you that it was created because of the Doctor?"

"Yeah. Queen Victoria, right?"

"Right. This Torchwood was created because of the Cyberman invasion, right?"

"Right."

Rose giggled, slightly hysterically. "Okay, well I was just… thinking, you know. If this Torchwood was created because of the Cyberman invasion and not because of the Doctor… does that mean that there's no… alternative version of the Doctor? Like Ricky, or the dog…"

Mickey leant back. "What are you trying to say?"

Rose sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that, I think there is an alternative version of the Doctor. A less travelled alternative version of the Doctor. A younger version of the Doctor."

"Based on…"

This was going to be hard to explain. "Kenny and I were tracking a Weevil this morning. We were using those tracking devices which detect _any_ alien life form." She hoped Mickey picked up on what she was strongly hinting.

Luckily for her, he wasn't an idiot- and he did. "So you found this alternate Doctor?"

"I think so. But it… it could be him, too."

"Rose-"

"No, Mickey- I'm not going insane or anything. Just hear me out. Kenny and I took him back to Torchwood, and we filled out this form. He said he was one hundred years old. He didn't recognise me, or your name, or anything that my Doctor would recognise. Do you think… do you think he might be suffering from… memory loss?"

"Amnesia?" Mickey asked with a frown. "Rose, he always went on about how Time Lords had a superior immune system, and that they were generally superior in every way. I doubt he would have something like amnesia with his 'superiority'."

"Yeah, but… his life was always so dangerous. What if something happened to him to give him amnesia? What if someone removed his memory?"

"What's the point?"

"Well I don't know!"

"Did you see the TARDIS?"

Rose took her lemonade from the waitress and waited for the young girl to leave before taking a sip and setting the glass down again. "No," she said softly, "I didn't see it."

"Have you talked to him about this?"

Rose scoffed. "What would I say?" Mickey shrugged, nodding a little bit at his own idiocy. "I don't know which theory is true, or whether any of my theories are true. If I could just…" She trailed off, her eyes glinting, as they always did when she had an idea.

"Uh oh."

"We could let him go. I could go with him. You know how he loves having people to help him. If I can go with him-"

"Rose," Mickey interjected, "you can't. This could be a trap, too."

"But it's not. I can feel it, Mickey- it's not a trap. Maybe this is him looking out for me, sending another version of himself to-"

"Okay, Rose. Let's just stop and think about this for a moment, because now we're getting into the realms of the surreal- no offence. Some man has turned up, claiming to be the Doctor, and you want to jump into his TARDIS and ride off into the sunset with him, am I right? Just because he looks like and is saying that he's the Doctor." Mickey raised his eyebrows.

"It's more complicated than that, Mickey-"

"Is it?" Mickey challenged. Rose remained silent. "Look, I know better than anyone- better than he does, anyway- that you love the Doctor- _your _Doctor. But this is dangerous, plain dangerous, Rose. You know how people who dislike him will stop at nothing to get to him, and now that means getting to you. So I'm coming with you."

"What?" Rose said, taken aback.

"I'm coming with you. I'm not even going to try to stop you from becoming his little helper, but if you're going to do it then I'm coming with you. If this is a trap, then we'll be safer if we stick together."

"But Mickey-"

"I just want you to be careful, Rose. If I think he's okay, you're going to need time alone whatever the explanation is, so I'll go. But _only _if I think he's okay, Rose. I'm looking out for you, like a best friend would. Let me look out for you."

Rose hesitated, and then nodded gently. "Okay, Mickey. You're coming with me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Are you sure you have the authority to do this?" Rose repeated, following Mickey down the long corridor. "I don't want you to get into trouble."

Mickey sighed, looking at her as they walked. "I'll be honest, Rose- I probably don't. But I don't particularly want Torchwood to dissect the Doctor's doppelganger, even if we do work for them."

"But they wouldn't do that to him."

"No, they wouldn't, I'm sorry. Vivisection."

"Mickey!" The very idea filled Rose with horror. Her feelings were threatening to overwhelm her, that much she could see. There was a pause as they continued on walking. "What will they do when they find out he's gone?"

"You filled out the form, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Do you know where it would be?"

"Well- Kenny's office, if he hasn't submitted it already. But Mickey, you can't just _steal _it- Pete would go crazy if he found out. You could lose your job."

Mickey looked at Rose seriously. "It's better than losing this version of the Doctor. I'm as curious as you, Rose, and I won't let them keep him in a cell for an indefinite period of time. It's not fair; he hasn't done anything wrong."

Rose smiled and linked her arm through Mickey's. "Have I ever told you I love you?"

"Not nearly enough, Rose." Mickey stopped, opening a door to their left and stepping inside. Rose released him and Mickey consulted his pocket computer. "Right, he's in room number thirty-three, so search for box number thirty-three."

It didn't take too long for the two of them to find it. Inside was this Doctor's version of the sonic screwdriver, psychic paper, and various other pointless items which made Rose giggle slightly. Mickey rolled his eyes and gathered this Doctor's possessions up in his arms.

"Onto room number thirty-three," Mickey announced, leaving the room and following the corridor once more, Rose trotting along in his wake.

"See, Mickey, I've been thinking… surely Pete won't be that angry at us if we let this Doctor go? I mean, he knows how much the Doctor meant- means to me. Wouldn't he understand?"

"I don't know, Rose," Mickey answered honestly. "I mean, I know Pete's your dad but he's very strict when it comes to prisoners. I think this Doctor would interest Torchwood a lot, especially if he's the last of his kind like the Doctor was. It's just not a good idea to let them keep him here, and if we approach Pete about this then he might get angry. If he doesn't know about this Doctor's imprisonment at all, then we'll be fine."

Rose sighed. "I just don't like doing things behind his back. He got me the job, after all."

"It's fine, babe. I'll take the blame."

"Mickey, I couldn't ask you to do that-"

"Could you get my key card out of my pocket? I'm a bit weighed down with all his junk."

Giggling, Rose fished in Mickey's trouser pocket and brought out said item, touching it to the sensor on the side of the door. She shoved the key card into her pocket and quickly took this Doctor's memorabilia from Mickey, considering herself lucky to have something to hide behind.

The door slid open automatically to reveal this Doctor, pacing in a somewhat frustrated manner. Both she and Mickey stepped inside, and this Doctor looked up at them confusedly.

"Mickey Smith, Doctor, nice to meet you," Mickey said, strolling forward and reaching out a hand, which this Doctor took. The two men shook hands, Mickey leading, before they broke away. Rose was glad that Mickey, at least, could be normal with this man. "We're really sorry about this. Just paperwork, you know how it is."

This Doctor's face broke into a grin. "Of course. No problem."

"You're free to go. We've discovered you're not going to blow up the world."

This Doctor looked to the ceiling and shrugged. "Well."

"You'd better not, anyway- we have you on record now."

"This is yours," Rose said, coming forward and handing the items she held in her hand over to him. This Doctor took them, stowing them in assorted places about his person. (She had missed that brown pinstriped suit, with pockets that were bigger on the inside.)

The three of them left the room and went back the way they had come in relative silence. Rose brought up the rear, and watched the back of this Doctor's head for pretty much the whole journey.

Luckily, they weren't confronted at all. That was the thing about having Mickey on your side- he was of a high rank and wasn't often challenged, if ever. Even though they were breaking the rules at six o' clock in the evening- prime time for Torchwood- no one seemed to care.

There was an awkward pause when they reached the entrance to the building, and this Doctor shifted in his Converse just like the Doctor always did. "Well," he said.

"Just-" Rose hesitated, looking over at Mickey who nodded gently. "Just one question, um, Doctor. You're an alien, yeah? So did you come from the rift, or… do you have a… sort of… space… ship?" The sentence had started badly and, clearly, it finished badly too. She cleared her throat and stepped from foot to foot anxiously.

"I have a sort of spaceship," this Doctor said, smiling at her kindly. Her heart began to beat faster as she met his eyes, and she looked away quickly.

"Could we see it?" Mickey asked quickly, before affecting a slightly deeper voice, "You know… standard procedure, and that."

This Doctor slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked backwards and forwards on his heels, his expression extremely curious. "Or… you know… you must be hungry," Rose interjected, swallowing loudly with her voice a little higher than usual (a trait, possibly, that she'd picked up from the Doctor). "Would you like to…" She trailed off at the look in his eyes and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Right. _Distance._ That's what she needed- a nice bit of distance. She was being affected deeply by this Doctor, and it needed to stop here. She'd done it before and she'd do it again.

"Would you like to come back and have dinner with us?" she asked, her voice returning to its normal pitch.

This Doctor's mouth quirked and he smiled. "Love to."

"Well, tuck in everyone!" Jackie announced, her eyes glowing. _"You'll_ be pleased to know that Pete helped me cook a lot of it," she said, looking pointedly at this Doctor.

Rose only just prevented herself from smacking herself on the forehead. Luckily, she was sitting next to Mickey as well as this Doctor, and her best friend kept her sane.

This Doctor had gone back to the TARDIS to collect a few things before coming back to their house, so there had been a window of opportunity in which Rose had informed her family about the situation. Mickey had groaned angrily at her for inviting the Time Lord, because it was going to be very difficult to explain if Pete ever found out about this Doctor's imprisonment, but Rose brushed his fears aside.

She had told her family that she and Mickey had found him wandering the streets and had invited him for dinner. Jackie missed the Doctor, more than Rose knew she would admit, although she had exclaimed, "There's another one of him?", her tone one of horror.

Luckily, Pete had stepped in and helped to cook a huge meal- in fact, pretty much everybody had pitched in.

Currently sitting around the table were Rose, Mickey, Jackie, Pete, June, Rose's little sister, and this Doctor. So far it had been not too awkward, with Rose's family chatting away happily in an attempt to disguise their disbelief at how there was an alternate version of the Doctor.

"Sorry, um, could you pass the, er-" Rose gestured feebly with her hand.

"Potatoes?" this Doctor asked, his eyebrow quirked. Rose shook her head, gesturing more wildly. "Leeks. Spinach. Carrots. Chicken. Wat- chicken!" This Doctor leant over and picked up the bowl, passing it over to Rose. She giggled as she took it from him, and he grinned.

Pete cleared his throat, and Rose could tell that the situation was about to become a little more awkward. "So, what species did you say you were, Doctor?"

That was the thing about Pete. So long as this Doctor hadn't been officially arrested, he wasn't going to arrest him. Pete didn't need to know that actually, he had been officially arrested and should still be in a cell rather than taking the bowl of chicken back from Rose and placing it in its original place.

"I didn't. Um… I'm a Time Lord."

"A Time Lord?" Pete asked, feigning surprise. There was a little silence. "Care to expand on that?"

"Um, not particularly."

"Fair enough," Pete said, nodding and eating a little more of his meal. "How was your day, Mickey?"

Mickey looked up. "Eh? Oh, yeah- good. It was mostly paperwork, though. Um… yeah, paperwork."

Pete laughed slightly. "Yes, well- I must say, you and Alex make a very good team. You both keep everybody up to date with paperwork."

"Yeah, I suppose."

Rose cleared her throat. "I think I might get some more, um…" She cast her eyes about the table, and they fell on the half empty carrot bowl. "…carrots."

She stood up, took the bowl in her hands, and went into the kitchen. Hurriedly she began to refill the bowl, before setting it down (quite loudly) and sitting on the kitchen bench. She put her head in her hands, and began to cry.

This was a little too much. She didn't know what had possessed her to ask this Doctor to come back for dinner. It's not like she'd expected him to say yes- after all, what happened to the 'I don't do domestic' approach that her Doctor had lovingly adopted? She supposed he must be really curious about what was going on and why she had reacted in the way she did upon meeting him. Then again, he might just not want to cook for himself, or go out and buy some chips. After all, her Doctor had always been a bit vague about money.

But maybe, just maybe, if he didn't see her as a threat, now she'd imprisoned him- he would ask her to come with him. Her stomach squirmed at the thought and fresh tears fell down her face. It was like a dream come true- her second chance. Just the thought of being on the TARDIS again…

"Are you all right?"

Rose leapt off the bench and quickly turned away from the intruder, pretending to fill the bowl with carrots. "Yeah, yeah, fine," she said, subtly, she hoped, wiping away her tears. "Couldn't find the carrots, so I had to have a search-"

"I just came to get more water."

Rose turned to look at this Doctor, and there was a short silence whilst they looked at each other. Then she reached out her hand. "Pass me the jug, then."

This Doctor handed it over and she filled it at the sink, glad that she was drowning out any sound with the splashing of the water. When she turned off the tap and turned to face him, he asked, "Are you sure you're all right?"

"What? Oh, I must have splashed myself with the water." Hastily setting down the jug, she headed for the towel and wiped her face on it, paying particular attention to her eyes. She grasped the water jug, said, "Get the carrots, then", and then walked as calmly as she could from the room.

After the meal had ended, this Doctor had taken them outside to see the TARDIS, due to the 'standard procedure' that Mickey had made up on the spot. As soon as they stepped from the mansion, Rose looked around desperately for the police box that she knew and loved.

This Doctor headed straight to a black car parked slightly on the pavement. He used a key on the door and climbed inside. "In here," he called, once he'd disappeared. Rose stepped forward, but Mickey caught her arm.

"This isn't the TARDIS," he said. Rose looked at him with doleful eyes, and he sighed. "This could be a trap, Rose."

"Mickey-"

"Let me go first."

Regretfully, she stepped back. Mickey climbed into the car and desperately, Rose followed.

Since the entrance was different to what she was used to, and she had tried to sit on a non-existent chair, Rose ended up sitting on the floor of TARDIS. From the looks of Mickey brushing himself off and looking disgruntled, he had tried to do the same and it had resulted in slightly more painful contact with the ground.

Rose stood up, and looked around. She heard this Doctor say, "Yes- that happens to me, too. The chameleon circuit ensures that the TARDIS blends in, so it's a different entrance every time. They can be hard to work out." The layout hadn't changed from what she could see, but since the chameleon circuit of this TARDIS was working, Rose knew that this Doctor wasn't her Doctor.

She blinked away expected tears. She had raised her hopes only to have them dashed. But then, she thought, of course this wasn't her Doctor. He was in the other universe. He hadn't even told her… he hadn't even said-

"All right. Thanks, Doctor. We'll be heading off now." With a purposeful nod towards Rose, Mickey stepped from the TARDIS. Rose looked at this Doctor, who was facing her, leaning against the console, his arms resting on it behind him.

She turned away regretfully, trying not to allow her tears to fall. She was more than a little surprised to see this Doctor in front of her. "Or," he said softly, "you could… I don't know… come with me."

"Come with you?"

"Yeah. Come with me. You can see a bit of the universe. See a bit of history, time, space, anything you want to see. The TARDIS- she can take you anywhere you want to go."

"I…" Her eyes were brimming. She had to get rid of him, somehow. "Okay."

"Okay?" he repeated, his face lighting up.

"Okay."

"Okay!" He ran around her, to the console, pressing buttons, pulling levers and slamming switches. He danced on the balls of his Converse, and she headed towards him as she heard the familiar thrumming of the TARDIS' engines.

"ROSE!" she heard Mickey shout, and she got halfway in a turn to the door- but she made eye contact with this Doctor and forgot everything but her Doctor as she lost herself in identical eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Rose staggered slightly as the TARDIS sped through the vortex. She sat on the jump seat, her head spinning. "Are you okay?" this Doctor asked, concernedly.

"Fine," she murmured. "Just tired, I guess."

This Doctor put his hand to her forehead. Again electricity sparked through her at his cool touch, and she squeezed her eyes shut, leaning into it. She could feel his fingers gently caressing her skin, and she shivered.

"You've got a temperature," she heard him say. "Are you sure you want to come with me?"

"I'm sure," she whispered, her eyes still closed. "I'm sure." _Too sure._

"Then let's get you to bed." His hand was removed and she yelped and opened her eyes as he picked her up, his muscles supporting her weight at her shoulders and her knees. Instinctively she slid her arms around his neck.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

_Thank you for saving me._

She didn't know how long it had been, but at last she woke. She sat up immediately, her eyes roaming around her. Unable to stop herself, she began to sob.

This TARDIS had made her room an exact replica of the one in the TARDIS, with her Doctor. She clutched at the identical bedcovers and drew them up to her chin, shifting back to lean against the pink painted wall and headboard. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.

This Doctor entered her room as soon as she thought this, a tray in his hands. He set it beside her and smiled. "You're up. How are you?"

"You- you're-"

"I'm what?"

"Wearing _jeans_."

This Doctor looked down at his trousers and shifted uncomfortably. He was still wearing his battered cream Converse, but was wearing a casual blue striped shirt with his light blue jeans. "Is that all right?"

"Yeah, it's just… you look… different."

"Different?"

Rose hesitated. "Well, yesterday you were wearing a suit and… now you're not. I've never seen you in anything but a suit."

This Doctor shrugged. "Fair enough. Are you feeling all right?"

"Better, thanks."

"I brought you toast."

Rose smiled as she leant over and took the plate from the tray. The toast had been buttered, and this Doctor sat at the end of her bed, smiling too. She bit into the toast and chewed on it contentedly.

"Feel up to going somewhere today?" he asked.

Rose sat up a little straighter, allowing the covers to drop. "Where?" she asked, excited. It had been so long. Too long.

"Anywhere you like."

Rose shrugged. She had been dreaming of this moment for as long as should could remember, but now it came to it, she had no idea what she wanted to do. Why did she feel so… guilty?

"Surprise me," she said, smiling at him. He smiled back and nodded, taking the empty plate from her.

"Right- surprise it is."

When the two of them returned to this TARDIS, Rose's face was glowing with excitement. This Doctor had taken her to one of the many shopping planets that he knew of and had trailed around with her semi happily whilst she browsed, bought, browsed, and bought some more. He also seemed to think that it was okay for her to load him up with all of her bags as she walked around, bag free, spending his money.

He set the countless amount of shopping bags down and shut this TARDIS' door as Rose skipped to the console. She turned back to him, grinning. "That was amazing. Thank you so much." It had been interesting to watch people come up to this TARDIS and browse around her, since she had disguised herself as an outside stall.

"That's all right. I thought you needed some cheering up and, to women, cheering up always comes in the form of shopping." He moved to the console, pressing a few buttons. Rose knew that they were flying through the vortex with no particular destination in mind. She sighed contentedly and sat down. "Are you going to choose where to next?"

Rose shrugged. "Another surprise?" she asked hopefully.

"Another surprise it is," he agreed, pressing a few buttons. "It'll be a surprise for me too, believe it or not." Rose giggled, excited for her first real adventure in a long time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

She had been with him for about a week now, give or take. They had had so many whirlwind adventures, and he just took her breath away. He was so similar to her Doctor, but so different too. He was kind, caring, trustworthy, and more than once she'd found herself thinking about this Doctor as opposed to her other one.

She loved him in jeans, she'd decided. He never wore anything but his brown pinstripe suit out, but he tended to wear jeans when lazing around this TARDIS. Her Doctor had never done that, so she hadn't quite appreciated how beautiful his body was. And it was. Oh, it was.

Sitting on the jump seat and watching him dance around the console, she really felt as though she had been given a second chance. In the last week, she had felt more content than any time in the year or so she had spent in this universe.

"So, are you going to choose our next place to stop, or would you like _another_ surprise?" he asked, not even looking at her. He sounded a little exasperated- but jokingly so.

"You pick such nice places to go when I say I'd like a surprise," she commented.

"Yes, I do," this Doctor said, immodestly. "So Rose picks… surprise?"

"Actually, I'd like to choose," Rose said, smiling. This Doctor turned round, a look of mock astonishment on his face. She giggled and poked him in the stomach. "Shut up, you."

"I said nothing!" he said, his hands up in defence.

"I've had a while to think, and I've already chosen, really. Would you… could we go to the 1960s?" she asked, breathlessly.

"Oh, the 1960s!" this Doctor said, beaming and slamming a few levers. "The 1960s," he repeated. "That was a brilliant decade- brilliant. Where in the 1960s would you like to go, Rose?"

"Like… I don't know, out clubbing." She grinned hopefully. She'd never got to take her Doctor out clubbing. Maybe this Doctor would take her. He smiled back, nodding.

"What are you waiting for?" he said, after setting a few coordinates.

"What?"

"Go get changed! You can't go out clubbing in that." Rose leapt to her feet with a squeal, throwing her arms around him.

"Okay, I'll change," she whispered into his ear, "but _you_ have to wear jeans." She stepped back, releasing him. His eyebrow was raised.

"Rose-"

"Please? Please, please, please?" The puppy dog eyes worked on this Doctor, evidently, and he sighed.

"Right. Fine then, twist my arm, why don't you?" He twirled a circular button on the console and started flapping his hands at Rose, who giggled and skipped to the wardrobe room. This Doctor followed.

Thirty minutes later, the two of them walked back towards the console room. Rose was dancing around this Doctor, telling him about what she wanted to do when they got to the club. She was wearing a denim miniskirt with a black top. This Doctor had insisted that she wear a cardigan with it, or she would be cold. Reluctantly, she had agreed.

This Doctor was dressed in black jeans and black Converse trainers. At Rose's insistence, he had worn a green striped shirt with a black v-neck jumper. This Doctor clearly found it difficult not to give into her demands.

They both reached the console room, and Rose stopped dead in her tracks. "What is it, Rose?" this Doctor asked warily.

"Nothing. Nothing," she said, her face flushed. The entrance to this TARDIS had changed into two doors. She began to run, wrenching the door open and falling out of this TARDIS. She turned and walked back, her heart beating at an alarming rate.

She was standing in front of a 1960s police phone box, which this Doctor emerged from soon after she did. He shut the door, and she marvelled at how he looked. There was no other word for it- he was sexy. And he was with her. She stepped forward and linked her arm in his, and together they made their way to the club.

There was no shortage of music from the Bee Gees and The Beatles. Rose drank a few glasses of weak alcohol, but this Doctor remained clean. She admired him for that.

Dancing in the middle of the room, Rose couldn't have been more content. Watching this Doctor try to dance around her was a constant source of hilarity, so when she was swept away from him by another man, she was too busy laughing to care.

Soon, he got a little bit too close for comfort. When he began running his hands up and down her body, she squeaked and attempted to get back to this Doctor. But the man held her close to him, clearly drunk. Weakly, she tried to hit him.

"Excuse me, I do believe that's my girlfriend you're attempting to molest." Rose looked up at the sound of this Doctor's voice, and her eyes shone with gratitude. He pushed the other man away lightly, who took the hint and left to find another victim.

This Doctor stepped forward, slipping his arms around Rose's waist- protectively. Rose's own hands slid around his neck, and she pulled him closer, until they were slow dancing to a relatively fast song. How strange it was didn't even occur to her- she was too busy staring into his eyes.

They both collapsed onto the sofa, and Rose kicked off her heels.

"God, I'm exhausted now," she said. "Who thought I'd go to a library to relax?"

"Libraries are brilliant," this Doctor said, a little hurt as he undid his laces and toed off his Converse.

Rose snorted. "You're such a nerd."

He smiled at her, clearly liking the comment. Rose giggled and only just managed to prevent herself from tickling him. She didn't even know if he was ticklish- she just wanted to hear if he would snort with laughter. That would be funny. She looked away and surveyed the room, which was stacked with shelves and books.

"You have so many," she said. "How long did it take you to collect all of these?" There was a pause. "Doctor?" She turned back to look at him just as he took her hand, caressing her palm gently with his fingers. She smiled and returned the movement.

Tentatively, he leant forward. Without thinking, Rose slid her arm around his waist and their lips met. They broke off after only a few seconds, their faces inches from each other. Then he ran his free hand up and down her back, sending shivers down her spine. He closed the gap again, but this time his kiss was more demanding. He coaxed her mouth open, and Rose allowed him access, relaxing as his tongue massaged hers.

Then she pulled away.

"What is it?" he asked. In his chocolate brown eyes, she could see fear.

"Nothing, I just…" She trailed off. She couldn't say what she wanted to say. _I just feel guilty, because here I am, kissing you, whilst my Doctor is in another universe and I can't get to him._

This Doctor dipped his head, kissing her along the collarbone. She moaned. He was so gentle with her, using his fingers lightly to massage her shoulders, neck, back. "You're tense," he breathed against her skin.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, I just… I never thought…" She stopped again, bringing her hands up to run them through his hair gently. How she'd longed to do this with her Doctor, just longed for it.

But was this just a case of her wanting this Doctor because he looked so like her Doctor? Rose was beginning to think it went deeper than that. This Doctor was a lot more domestically inclined, this Doctor wanted to kiss her, hold her, touch her, caress her. This Doctor _wanted_ her.

She knew that her original Doctor had loved her. There had been no question about it. They had been best friends, but there had always been those awkward moments when they'd almost kissed, or actually had kissed. Granted, there hadn't been many, but _she knew_. She had never known what it was like to kiss him properly. He loved her… he just hadn't wanted her. Perhaps not until he lost her. But here she was now, with this version of him. And it was wonderful, brilliant.

But it felt like cheating.

Abruptly, she pushed him away and stood up, backing away from the sofa. He looked at her, his eyes wondering. "Rose?" he said.

She shook her head- and she _ran_.

All the way down the corridor- she didn't stop until she reached the control room. Then she started sobbing. Newly made doors leading to different corridors slammed, preventing this Doctor's access. It was this TARDIS, protecting her.

Rose threw herself to the floor, pulling up the grating and diving head first underneath it. She began pulling at wires, disconnecting circuits, breaking soft metal. "Please," she begged, her voice wracked with sobs, "please. I want to feel safe."

She knew when she found the right wire. It glowed underneath her hand, burning hot. Gasping, she pulled away and watched it smoulder, burning itself to ash. Then she climbed out, running to the door of this TARDIS and yanking it open, stepping outside, moving back and looking at the outside of this TARDIS, barefoot.

It was a 1960s police phone box, as it had been when they landed here. And somehow she knew that it was going to stay like this.

"Rose! Rose!" She watched the Doctor emerge from the TARDIS, and stop several paces away from her. He shifted. "Are you all right, Rose?"

She smiled at him, a genuine smile through her tears. "I'm all right," she replied. He leapt forward and gathered her into his arms, kissing the top of her head gently. "I'm all right," she repeated.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Rose stepped into the control room the next morning. Her hair was a mess, tied up in a rough ponytail, but she was dressed at least. She had make-up on, but had headed to the control room when she had heard and felt the TARDIS in flight. The Doctor was standing at the console in his brown pinstripes, looking forlornly at the screen.

"Doctor?" she ventured. "Where are we going?"

The Doctor looked up at her and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm taking you back to Mickey."

Rose blinked. "Why?"

"Because… because I think you need to see him." She was astounded. Her Doctor would never have come to a conclusion like that. She walked towards him, stopping at his side. He shifted so that he was facing her.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I just…" She stopped, unsure of how to go on.

"It's all right." He spread his arms and she fell into them, squeezing him tightly to her. She could feel his hearts beating faster. "Rose, I know it's not been long," he said, speaking into her hair. "I know that. And I know this is going to sound crazy but…" He trailed off, and Rose felt his heartsbeat increase even further. "Rose, I think I've fallen in love with you."

Rose squeezed her eyes shut tightly, pulling him instinctively closer to her. Oh God, what was she going to do? "Doctor," she whispered gently, and felt his lips brush against the top of her head. "I just need to think, Doctor. I just need to…" She stopped, feeling her voice crack.

"All right."

"All right?"

"All right." He pushed her away from him a little and smiled at her. She looked up at him as he wiped her tears away with his thumbs, his hands on either side of her face. "I'll wait, Rose."

The TARDIS landed with a bump, breaking up the moment slightly. The Doctor's hand sought Rose's and he led her to the exit, pulling the door open and exiting first. Still firmly clutching his hand, Rose followed and shut the door behind her.

When she looked around, she had to resist the urge to scream.

He had parked the TARDIS just outside her family home in what seemed like late evening, and they were now surrounded by men and women in black uniforms wielding guns. Torchwood uniforms. Rose recognised a few of the faces. "Billy!" she exclaimed. "Kenny- what's going on?"

No one replied, but an unfamiliar voice did reply, "Hands up!" Releasing each other's hands, both the Doctor and Rose obliged, when the same voice said, "Not you, Rose."

Confused, Rose lowered her hands and looked over at the Doctor, who she could see now was obviously being targeted. He threw her a confused look, his hands still up beside his head, his fists curled into light balls.

Rose heard a car draw up and turned. Pete and Mickey climbed out of the sleek black Torchwood car. Pete's expression was furious and Mickey's was only semi apologetic.

"Mickey? What's going on?" Rose demanded, just as Mickey came up close to her. He took her arm and led her away from the Doctor. She wrenched herself free. "Mickey!"

"I had to tell him, Rose," Mickey hissed furiously. "You just disappeared off with him in that thing after _we _made a deal. Pete wanted to know where you'd gone- you can't just skip duties when you feel like it, Rose! Plus, everything was beginning to look suspicious, anyway-"

"They're going to arrest him?" she said, her tone surprised and angry. "No, Mickey! That's not fair. He won't understand-"

"He'll understand perfectly. He's an alien, and if it's alien, it's ours."

Rose ran to Pete, grabbing at his arm. He had been looking on sternly at their exchange, although he probably hadn't been able to hear any of it. "Pete! You can't possibly be endorsing this. He hasn't done anything wrong. This Torchwood is supposed to be better than the one in our- my world!" she hissed quietly. Pete pulled his arm free.

"I'm sorry, Rose." He didn't sound sorry at all. "Maybe if you hadn't lied to me in the first place, I would be listening to you now."

"Dad!"

"Don't-" Pete snapped, angrily "-call me that." He brushed past her, instructing his soldiers. Several men stepped up to the Doctor, who eyed them suspiciously. He had caught the general gist of what was going on- after all, he wasn't thick (he was brilliant!). He thought of making a run for it, but he didn't particularly want to be blasted into his next regeneration.

Then again… he looked at the guns aimed at him, and then back at the TARDIS. Pete seemed to notice this, and instructed, "Don't even think about it."

"I'm not even allowed to think about it?" the Doctor whined. Rose pushed past Pete and ran to the Doctor's side, wrapping her arms around him. "Rose-"

"You can't," she sobbed into his side, "you can't do this."

It was Mickey who resolved the situation. He came forward and managed to prise Rose from the Doctor (although how, no one was quite sure). Pete, determined that there would be no other distractions, commanded loudly, "Arrest him, then." He then walked casually back to the car.

"NO!" Rose yelled, struggling to get free from Mickey, who was attempting to take her inside the house. "No- Mickey, you can't let them do this."

But Mickey could, and did. They both watched, Rose struggling, as the Doctor was advanced upon. Two members of Torchwood took an arm each, twisting them behind his back. He winced and soon felt cold metal on his wrists, restricting his movement. Rose was half crying, half screaming in anger.

"It's okay, Rose," the Doctor said gently, from several metres away. "I'll be all right. Go inside." He himself was less sure, but he hated seeing Rose like this. He allowed himself to be taken to the car that Pete had just got into the front seat of, not willing to put up a fight in front of Rose. If he complied, maybe she would think it was all okay.

Looking back at Rose finally, he climbed awkwardly into the car, wishing that he didn't have his hands cuffed behind his back, and that it was actually the TARDIS he was climbing into. He'd take falling onto the floor over this any day.

"Rose!" Jackie cried as soon as Mickey and her daughter entered through the door. "Rose." She pushed Mickey away and gathered her into her arms, hugging her tightly.

"They took him, Mum," Rose sobbed. "They just took him-"

"I know, love. I know."

"You know?" Rose asked through her tears, trying to pull away.

"I saw everything. I tried to stop them, Rose, I really did-"

"Well you didn't try hard enough!" Rose bellowed, detaching herself from her mother. "You didn't. They just arrested him, Mum, treated him as if he'd murdered someone or kidnapped me or-"

"Listen to me, Rose, listen to me," Jackie said urgently, gripping her daughter by the shoulders. "I promise you- I promise you that I will do everything in my power to get him released from there."

"He hasn't done anything wrong!"

"I know, love."

"They're going to dissect him or something. What if they hurt him? What if they kill him?" Rose sobbed.

"That's _not_ going to happen," Jackie responded fiercely. "That I can promise you for certain. They're not going to hurt him. Come into the living room, Rose. I'll make you some tea."

Once Rose had been settled on the sofa with a blanket, and Mickey was sitting in the armchair, Jackie left the room to put the kettle on. Mickey leant forward, his eyes full of sadness. "I'm sorry, Rose."

"Don't talk to me." She was shaking ever so slightly, trying to rein in her emotions. She couldn't believe the extent of Mickey's betrayal. Surely he knew that she _needed_ the Doctor, that he was the only one who had made her truly happy in weeks, months. And now…

"I really am, though. Kenny just let it slip that you two had arrested him beforehand. He didn't know and I was told that if I confessed to releasing him, they'd be lenient on you."

"On me?"

"You almost lost your job, Rose. Pete was furious with us both. He's been tracking the TARDIS on all the CCTV cameras and reckoned that if you came back anywhere, it'd be back here, so he stationed people out here who were ready to arrest this Doctor when you two came out."

"But what about _him_?" Rose demanded. "Didn't you ever think to make sure that they were lenient on _him_? They treated the Doctor like dirt when he saves the world and never even asks for them to say thank you. Oh God, this is all my fault."

"No, Rose. No it isn't." There was a slight pause. "And since when was this Doctor the Doctor?"

Rose stared at him for a while. The change had been completely subconscious and she hadn't even noticed it herself.

"Don't tell me you're in love with him," Mickey said.

"I don't know, Mickey," Rose responded, her voice wavering. "I just don't know. But…" She paused. "He's in love with me."

"What? How do you know?"

"He told me that he was. Just before we left the TARDIS. I doubt he still is, knowing the trouble I've got him into."

"No, Rose. I think he must be. He would've fought or ran if he'd wanted to get away and it's likely he would've succeeded. He stayed. He stayed to make sure that you were all right."

"No he didn't!" Rose burst out. "Why would he do that? I'm not the one that was aimed at, that was arrested as though I'd done something really bad."

"People do crazy things when they're in love," Mickey said, with a shrug.

Rose scoffed. "Don't start quoting Disney, Micks. I'm not in the mood."

It was then that Jackie re-entered the room, handing around the tea. Rose took her cup and barely sipped it before putting it down on the table next to her. She curled up, hugging her knees, lying sideways on the sofa.

"Rose, love, I'm sure you'll be able to visit him," Jackie said softly.

"Yeah. Once they've done all the paperwork, I'm sure they'll let you-"

"Why are you talking about him like that, Mickey? As if he's just some alien who deserves to be in that cell, deserves to have paperwork filed on him-"

"I didn't mean that, Rose."

"Yes you did."

"Rose-"

"I'm going to bed. If I have to fight Pete tooth and nail on this then I'm going to need some sleep," Rose announced, standing up. She felt a little dizzy, and Jackie looked concerned.

"Pete will come to his senses," she said softly.

"He'd better," Rose responded darkly, before trudging up to bed, her cheeks running with tears.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Rose was at the Torchwood institute bright and early- earlier than she would usually have been there for work, anyway. She got a few odd looks but ignored them as she headed straight down to the cells, Mickey's key card telling her what cell he was in.

The door slid open noiselessly and Rose saw the Doctor sitting forlornly on the bed in the cell, his head in his hands. He looked up as soon as he heard her clear her throat, and his eyes lit up. He leapt to his feet and stepped towards her- but Rose had already launched herself into his arms, clutching him to her.

"Hello," the Doctor whispered.

"Hello!" Rose replied, her voice full of thankfulness. She had missed him, she had missed the TARDIS, she had missed his scent and his touch. "Did they treat you okay?"

"They treated me okay," the Doctor assured her, moving his hand up her neck slowly and gently rubbing the bottom of her head with his fingers. Rose moved slightly to accommodate him, spotting his other wrist. She took his hand and brought it up to eye level.

"Doctor-"

"It's okay." His wrist was bloody, the skin broken, clearly from where it had been handcuffed. Reaching behind her, Rose clutched his other hand and inspected the wrist of that one, too. It was much the same. "I'm just not used to being handcuffed."

"No. Just being handcuffed doesn't do this."

"Well. They might have been a little rough." Rose's eyes burned with anger. "But it's okay. Honestly." He put on the kind of voice a bullied child would use in the school playground. "I can deal with those ruffians! Just watch them try to-"

Rose silenced him by pressing her lips to his. She moved away after only a little while and the Doctor looked at her in disbelief, his lips slightly parted. "Hush," she said, an amused smile playing around her mouth. "Listen, Doctor- I'm not going to let them hurt you. I'm going to find out exactly why you're being held, disprove whatever allegation it is, and then get you out of here."

"What if it's that I'm an alien?"

Rose paused. "Well, I'm just going to have to get you out another way."

"Rose-"

"No, Doctor. I'm not just going to let them keep you. It's not fair on you. It's my fault they know about you in the first place."

"No it's not." The Doctor grinned. "I'm brilliant. They were bound to notice my brilliance sooner or later."

A bell rang throughout the complex, and Rose twitched. "I have to get to work now, Doctor. But I'll be back in the evening, okay? To see you. If you'll have me."

"I'd love that, Rose. You know I would."

"Yes, I do know." _She knew for sure. _She kissed him gently on the lips and massaged his wrists slightly before leaving the room. The door slid shut when she pressed Mickey's key card to the sensor.

After her work was finished (luckily, no one had asked her to go out on an assignment or fill in more paperwork- although it was still late- around nine o' clock in the evening), Rose made her way back down to his cell, pressing Mickey's key card against the door and humming softly to herself as the door opened.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed, grinning. He was nowhere to be seen. She frowned. "Doctor?" She stepped into the cell and looked to her right at movement she saw there.

The Doctor was huddled in a corner, his knees pulled up to his chin, his head down. His fingers were digging into his scalp and he was rocking forwards and backwards slightly. He was breathing very heavily- whimpering, even.

Stowing the key card in her jeans pocket, she fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him against her. "Doctor, what's wrong?" He didn't respond. With one hand still upon his head, he gripped her hand with his other.

"Doctor, what did they do to you?"

"My mind," he moaned.

"Your mind?"

"They hooked it up to a… tortured… wanted to know…" Rose's insides burnt with hatred. If Pete had done this, she'd never forgive him.

"What did they want to know?" she asked, softly, attempting to prise his fingers away from his tangled hair and failing miserably. He was clearly terrified, not wanting to let anyone have free access to his head- not even Rose.

"Just about… my home. Who I was and… why I'd kidnapped you. And… I didn't want to… I couldn't just… because I hadn't… I didn't…"

"Oh, Doctor," Rose whispered, placing a kiss on the knuckles of the hand gripping his hair. "I'm so sorry. So, so sorry."

"It still… still hurts. It hurts, Rose."

"Did they get anything out of you?"

"N- no," he stumbled weakly. "Well, yeah. But not what they wanted to… to know. I put up a… mental barrier. They couldn't get in so they…" He winced and retreated further into himself. "I never thought that they would…"

"Shh," Rose instructed, seeing that he was only working himself into a frenzy. She kissed the hand he was clawing at the top of his head with, and it relaxed- but only slightly. He hadn't been expecting them to do anything to him. The other Doctor would have. The other Doctor would have been prepared. Was this one just too naïve, too innocent, too trusting? If he was, then he couldn't stay here.

In a few moments, Rose had made up her mind. "Doctor, we're leaving. Can you walk?"

"Yeah… it's just… oh, my head." He grimaced, his voice strained.

Rose stood up, gripping his hand and pulling him to his feet. He responded slowly, his hand still on his head. "Doctor, I'm not going to hurt you. Give me that hand." The Doctor looked at her, pain in his eyes, before slowly removing his hand from his head and placing it in hers.

"I trust you, Rose," he said softly.

"Come on."

They ran from the room, hand in hand, hurtling down the corridors. They only stopped to pick up the Doctor's taken items before leaving the cellblocks by use of Mickey's key card. Hardly anyone was there and the two of them weren't approached as Rose led the Doctor to where the TARDIS had been taken after his arrest.

The two of them leapt inside it as soon as they got the doors open. Rose couldn't believe this had been so easy. She assumed that Pete hadn't known she had Mickey's key card, and that he trusted her. Well, she couldn't be trusted- not if Torchwood was going to torture her Doctor.

"Rose, are you sure you want to come?"

"What?"

"You have a life here. I don't. Your family will forgive you, or you could make sure that you weren't linked to this. I won't blame you if you just want to leave."

Rose smiled a little at the ridiculousness of what he had said. She stepped towards him and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him fiercely on the mouth. He allowed her access and this time, for the first time, she was dominating him. She pulled back, her hand resting delicately on his head, massaging it gently.

"Doctor, I think I've fallen in love with you," she whispered. He stared at her for a moment, and suddenly the thrumming of the TARDIS' engines began. She smiled and continued, "The decision's been made, Doctor. I want to run away with you."

The Doctor smiled back, moving back in for a kiss, massaging her body, up and down. She hissed in pleasure as he put his wonderful fingers to good use. It wasn't long before they reached the Doctor's bedroom and had divested each other of their clothes, moving in rhythm with each other. Rose had never done it like this before; she felt a mental connection as well as a physical one. And she could feel his love for her, despite their friendship of only a week or so.

She could feel his hurt, too. The pain that was still raw because of the way his mind had been attacked. Slowly, and almost subconsciously, Rose reached out with her own mind, soothing his wounds and stroking, caressing, loving him for him. And when they were finally finished, they lay, contented, on the bed, his arms around her.

But she still felt guilty. As if she was betraying the other Doctor, and as if she was betraying this one. Because neither of them knew about the other, and now she had entrusted herself to this one, there was no going back. Not to her family, not to her first Doctor.

She loved them both, she knew that now. Though they looked the same, which was undoubtedly what had attracted her to the second Doctor at first, they were so different. Her first Doctor had been her best friend, but unwilling to admit that he had feelings for her beyond friendship. But this Doctor… he was different.

She shivered as he made light circles on her stomach with his long fingers, kissing her on her neck and nuzzling against her jaw. "I'm sorry for the way they treated you," she murmured. The Doctor began to make hushing noises but she continued quietly, "It was wrong. I can't believe they did that."

"They just care for you, Rose."

"So do you. Aren't you all on the same side?"

The Doctor sighed, his cool breath tickling her neck. "Apparently not."

Rose turned to face him and he pulled her close to him. She shut her eyes, resting her head on the pillow as her hands snaked up to entangle themselves in his hair. "I love you, Doctor."

"I love you too, Rose."

"I knew someone like you once," she said, in the softest of whispers. "He was… he was incredible." She reopened her eyes and saw him looking at her, openly and honestly. "But…" She paused. "He wasn't you. _You're _you."

His lips quirked into a smile and she laughed softly. "I know how ridiculous that sounded," she amended. "But I mean it. You're you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. There could be one million Torchwoods standing between us and here is the only place I'd want to be." She heard the Doctor sigh contentedly, his hands running over her body. "And I'm sorry."

The Doctor pressed his lips to hers gently, before settling down further onto the pillow. "Goodnight, Rose," he murmured. She smiled at him and stroked his hair.

"Goodnight, Doctor." She closed her eyes, content in the knowledge that this Doctor was hers- and only hers.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Good morning, gorgeous," the Doctor said, rolling the 'r'.

Rose giggled and opened her eyes. Waking up to his face was like waking up to chips in bed. And that was pretty spectacular. "How did you know I was awake?"

"I know everything," he said seriously.

She rolled her eyes only half-jokingly and snuggled closer to him. "Doctor," she said softly.

"Yes, Rose?"

"You said that they didn't get the information that they wanted when they…" She hesitated. "…scanned your mind."

"Mmm."

"What information did they get, then?"

The Doctor racked his brains- quite literally. "From what I can tell, a great deal about the Terracotta army."

"The Terracotta army?" Rose repeated. "In China, yeah?"

"Yep."

"What about it?"

"That they were buried with the First Emperor in order to protect him in the afterlife, that they were built by convicts who were given the job to make them as opposed to going to prison, that Ying Zheng- that's the First Emperor, by the way- was born in two hundred and fifty-nine BC, and that his declared title was Qin Shihuangdi, the First August Divine Emperor of the Qin."

Rose stared at him. "You know, your head is so full of crap."

"It's not cra-"

"Thank you; I'll file that under 'U' for 'Useless'."

"Hey!" The Doctor pouted and she grinned at him, her tongue poking from between her teeth. "It helps to know about some of the places that you visit, you know."

Rose gasped, clutching his hand. "Could we go to China? You know, that time. We could see them being built, and…" She trailed off, watching him shake his head vigorously. "What?"

"Let's just say I made a lasting impression on that era of China."

"Oh, God."

"Well, _I_ think a general with my face on it would have been brilliant." Rose burst out laughing and he smiled as she buried her face into his chest. "No, no, Rose," he said, pushing her away and climbing out of bed, "we've got to get moving. Can't stay in bed all day."

"Why not?" Rose murmured, pulling the pillow close to her now he had gone.

"Because," the Doctor responded, maddeningly. Rose grumbled slightly and stepped out of bed. They both took a shower (at separate times- and Rose made sure of it, for some reason) and dressed. Since the Doctor was wearing a suit, she could tell that they were going to go somewhere today.

"So where are we going?" she pressed, dancing around him as he fiddled with the TARDIS' controls. He shrugged noncommittally.

"I'm not sure if I feel like going anywhere today," he said gently, his hand instinctively flying to his head. Rose stood on her tiptoes and placed her hands upon his.

"The First Emperor's declared title was Qin Shihuan, the First Divine Emperor of the Qin," she said softly.

"Close. Qin Shihuangdi, the First August Divine Emperor of the Qin."

Rose smiled as he slipped his hand out from under hers and began to hit a few more buttons. "Do you spell Qin the way you pronounce it?"

The Doctor looked at her briefly as she came around his side and removed her hands from his head. "Rose Tyler, if you're asking me whether you spell Qin as C-H-I-N, I'm never going to talk to you again."

"That's a bit harsh," she said, sniffing in a mock hurt manner.

"Although," he said contemplatively, "Qin is most likely where the Western word 'China' came from."

"So you do spell it C-H-I-N!" Rose challenged.

"No, Rose. Q-I-N."

"Well, that's stupid. Isn't a 'U' meant to follow the 'Q'?"

"What, like your 'U' for 'Useless'?" the Doctor asked, an eyebrow raised. "Honestly, Rose, only an hour ago you were telling me how my head is full of crap, and now you're desperate to know how you spell Qin."

"Okay, the word Qin sounds so stupid now."

"Then let's stop using it," the Doctor said, grinning at her.

"That's what I-" Rose stopped, heaving a sigh. There was no use in arguing with him, or trying to better him, because he would never let up. "So," she continued, as if nothing had happened, "are we going somewhere today, or not?"

"I was thinking not."

"Why not?"

He shrugged, poking a button. "Plenty of interesting things to do around the TARDIS," he mumbled. "Plus, she needs a bit of repair work. The chameleon circuit's stuck, which is annoying."

"You like the chameleon circuit?" Rose asked, surprised.

"Well, yeah. It's useful. Can get annoying when you land on your-" Rose coughed just as he spoke, blocking out his word. "-but it helps you blend in, makes sure you're not noticed… well, most of the time."

Rose moved around him to the other side of the console, clearing her throat and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Do you think Torchwood would have known it was us if it had been working?" Rose asked quietly, feeling guilty.

"Oh, yes," the Doctor said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's hard to miss something that materialises in front of your face, Rose. Even if it is a lamppost that's cunningly disguised."

"I don't know," Rose mused as he poked his head around the middle of the TARDIS to look at her, "I've been doing it for the last year."

"What?" he asked, his brow creasing.

"Hmm? Oh, I mean… you. I only just moved here and… well." She shrugged, a little wrong footed, poking the TARDIS and attempting not to press any buttons. ("Now you've just killed us.")

"Well…?" he pressed.

"Well. I've never seen you. Not really. I mean, you haven't… been around. And I…" She stopped, clearing her throat.

"Yeah. Haven't been travelling for that long."

"No?"

"Not really."

Rose sucked in her breath. "And you really are… one hundred and six?"

The Doctor grinned. "Give or take a few months. It gets sort of… confusing, in a time machine. Things don't really happen to me in the right order. I'm rubbish at birthdays and Christmas and-"

"Weddings?" she ventured, unsure of what had made the notion pop into her head.

"Weddings," the Doctor confirmed, an impressed smile on his face.

There was a silence, but it wasn't awkward. The Doctor knelt down and pulled up the grating of the TARDIS' floor, fishing his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. "So we're not going anywhere today then?" Rose asked.

He looked up at her, half concentrating on her and half concentrating on putting the sonic screwdriver onto the right setting. "I don't think so."

"If it's because you're afraid of getting hurt again, I understand," Rose said, leaning over the console and looking at him seriously.

The Doctor snorted, but Rose noticed his deflection tactics immediately. "What? No, I'm fine."

"No you're not." He frowned and was about to speak when Rose said, "I saw you. In that cell. You were terrified. They attacked your mind, Doctor. I can't imagine that happening to my mind and I know that I would be so scared to go out again, just in case-"

"Rose." The Doctor's voice was full of warning- the first time she'd heard this tone from this him. The other Doctor had used it when talking to her about Sarah-Jane, but this Doctor hadn't yet. She immediately recoiled, the voice holding bad memories for her as her feelings for the first Doctor came flooding back, full force. "I'm fine." His voice had turned more light-hearted by this point, but Rose wasn't fooled. He had been terrified- she hadn't imagined it- he had been. Perhaps he blamed her?

"Okay," she said softly, her eyes betraying nothing, she hoped. He smiled at her and slithered under the grating. The first Doctor would have noticed. The first Doctor would have talked to her about it. Maybe.

"Just going to fix some of the TARDIS wiring," he said, in an overly cheerful voice. "You can do whatever you want, really."

"Anything but leave the TARDIS?"

"Unless you want to fall into the vortex, then yes, anything but leave the TARDIS."

The whirring of the sonic screwdriver soon commenced. "Doctor," Rose said softly, "do you have to fix the chameleon circuit?"

The Doctor paused, poking his head back out from under the floor just as she sat down next to him, cross-legged. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I kind of like it with a police box as its exterior, and if the chameleon circuit doesn't really blend us in, then what's the point of spending your time fixing it?"

The Doctor smiled amusedly. "You like the retro look then, do you, Rose?"

"I do."

"Uh-uh, Rose!" the Doctor said, shaking his head. "I'm rubbish at weddings, remember?"

Rose blushed. "I didn't mean that, silly," she said, giving him a playful tap on his cheek. The Doctor grinned. "Don't tease me."

"But it's so fun."

"Get back to work!"

"All right, all right," the Doctor grumbled, diving back underneath the floor. "I won't fix the chameleon circuit, if that's what you really want. To be honest-" Rose could tell he was making sure she couldn't see his face, because, it seems, he was embarrassed "-she wasn't letting me do it anyway."

"It's the oestrogen," Rose said happily. "It makes us women agree with each other."

"You know," the Doctor said contemplatively, "I'm starting to feel sorry for myself."


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Just thought I'd take the time to thank those who have been reviewing and requesting more. Starting to worry that these stories won't be what everyone wants considering **I** hardly remember them, I wrote them so long ago! But I'm really glad that you're deriving some enjoyment from them, it makes me happy :-)_

**Chapter 9**

She had thought the Doctor would get over it soon. She realised how naïve she had been after about three weeks of him putting off leaving the TARDIS.

There was always something that needed doing. The TARDIS needed repairing still, the library needed tidying, the bathrooms and bedrooms needed cleaning. Rose had never ever put the Doctor down to be someone who'd do _cleaning_ in order not to do something else, but obviously she was wrong.

She knew he was hurting. The first Doctor had done this- oh, so much. He had hidden everything deep inside, never let out his emotions. He'd suffered alone, because that's how he thought it should be. This Doctor was, evidently, the same.

They hadn't made love since the first time they'd made love. It was frustrating Rose because, after that, she thought their relationship would advance considerably. Clearly, it hadn't done any such thing. He wasn't distant, that wasn't the word. He'd still kiss her every so often and they'd settle down in the evenings on the sofa and have a cuddle, possibly whilst watching a movie if the Doctor wasn't being too difficult, but they slept in separate beds and talking about serious things never happened.

The Doctor was damaged. There was no other word for it. He was still terrified of allowing people to have access to his mind and his thoughts. Rose knew that the process Torchwood used was a long and painful one, where the alien victim was strapped down and had their mind pretty much broken into. For a telepath like the Doctor, it might not have been as bad, since he could put up a mental barrier, as he had called it. Then again, it might have been worse for a telepath. She just didn't know, because he wouldn't talk to her about it.

But he hadn't been expecting it, that was the thing. Not once had he thought they'd torture him, physically or mentally. Rose was worried that, given the time, Torchwood would have done both. What would the Doctor be like now if she'd allowed that to happen? He'd already retreated into his shell with just the mental torture, just the once.

She really missed her family. If she and the Doctor had been having adventures, she wouldn't so much. As it was, she did. She really did. She was angry at her mum for lying, was furious at her dad for hurting the Doctor, felt betrayed by Mickey. But she missed them so.

She had to get the Doctor out of the TARDIS and functioning as the Doctor again. She just had to. She was going insane here, holed up in the TARDIS with nowhere exciting to go.

And so she came up with a plan. She spoke to the TARDIS about it, and she could sense that the time ship agreed wholeheartedly with her. As quietly as she could, the ship landed on the calmest, most peaceful planet she knew, and Rose went to collect the Doctor.

She found him in the library, arranging a few books into place on the shelves. She came up behind him. "Doctor," she said softly.

He turned around, grinning at her. "Hello, Rose. Come to help?"

"Actually, no. I've got a present for you."

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow- probably at the fact that her managing to get a present whilst they had been parked in a locked cupboard on a distant planet was quite a feat. "Oh?"

"It's a surprise."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you what it is," Rose grinned, "that would make it not a surprise."

The Doctor sighed, shoving a book onto the bookshelf randomly (probably so he could go and reorder all of the books again if he needed an excuse not to leave). "All right, then." Rose produced one of his ties from her pocket and reached up to his head. He backed off. "What?"

"I have to blindfold you, or it'll ruin the surprise, silly."

"No, Rose. No blindfolding."

"But if I just-"

"No."

Rose giggled, thinking he was joking. She stepped towards him again and lifted the tie to his eyes. He reacted instantly, grabbing her wrist and pulling the tie from her hand with his other. He then threw it across the room, releasing Rose's wrist. "I said no!" he shouted.

It was Rose's turn to back off- although her version of it was more a spirited leap than anything else. She looked at her red wrist and blinked the tears from her eyes. "But I just wanted to…" She trailed off, seeing the anger in his eyes die down to be replaced by sadness, guilt. Maybe she could play with this? Just a little? That wouldn't be bad, would it?

She forced herself to cry. She wailed and ran from the room, all the way to her bedroom. She heard the TARDIS making disapproving noises at her, but if this got him to open up, then it'd all be worth it. She slammed the door and threw herself upon her bed, still sobbing.

Several hours later, there was a knock at Rose's door. She sat up in bed, tucking her book underneath her pillow. "Come in," she instructed.

The door opened to reveal a very apologetic Doctor. He stepped forward, clearing his throat nervously as he approached her bed. "Can I sit down?" he asked, after a pause.

Rose sniffed, looking away from him and dabbing at her eyes. "If you must."

The bed sank as he sat down. Rose didn't look at him. "Rose, I just want to tell you that I'm really, really sorry."

"Gee, thanks, Doctor. That's no problem. You can bruise my wrist any day of the week so long as you say sorry afterwards," she retorted.

"I didn't mean to do that." He reached forward and Rose snatched her hand away from his, turning her head to glare at him. "I would never, ever hurt you. Not intentionally," he said, in a small voice.

"That's a lie for a start," Rose snapped, brandishing her red wrist in his face. "Any idiot can see that."

"Rose, I really am sorry. It was just an instinctive reaction."

"To what? Me putting a purple tie over your eyes in order to surprise you? Sure, Doctor, that's really life threatening. Of course you have to have an instinctive reaction to that," she said, sarcastically. She wasn't angry at him- not really. But if this was the only way to get information out of him, by pretending that he really hurt her, then so be it.

The Doctor sighed, leaning back against the bed support, looking at Rose with eyes that she saw were trying to fight back the tears. "They did it at Torchwood."

Rose blinked. "What?"

"Put a blindfold over my eyes. I guess they didn't want me to see where they were taking me. They tied my wrists and blindfolded me and told me nothing. And then they used that-" He broke off, his voice cracked. He steeled himself. "Then they…"

He ran his left hand through his hair in a subconscious gesture. There was a long pause as Rose simply looked at him. Realising that she wanted him to go on, he said, "They took away my sight, Rose. They took away my sight and then attacked me when I was most vulnerable, when I couldn't do anything to stop them. That's why I didn't want you to blindfold me."

Rose tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're not okay, are you?"

The Doctor looked down at his hands, twisting them in his lap. "No, Rose. I'm not okay."

She crawled across the bed towards him and sat beside him at the bottom of it, slipping her arms around his waist. Tentatively, he reached for her hands and began to stroke the wrist he'd hurt, resting his head on hers.

"Doctor, I've told you that I'm sorry about what they did, and I am. I hate how they treated you and I hate how my own father didn't listen to me. Neither did my supposed best friend, Mickey. I've completely cut them off, and I've cut them off for you, Doctor. If you don't talk to me, then that was for nothing. I can't- just can't- have a relationship with you, intimate or otherwise, without knowing that you'll talk to me if something's wrong. I'll listen, and I'll try to help. But if you don't tell me what's wrong, then I can't do anything. I'm useless, and I feel useless."

The Doctor remained silent, and it struck Rose just how childlike this version of him was. Was the other Doctor like this deep inside? "Okay, Rose," he said softly. "I promise that if something's wrong in the future, I'll tell you."

"Thank you." He looked at her and she noticed that his eyes were swimming with unshed tears. She kissed him gently on the nose.

"Crying is okay, too."

The Doctor smiled weakly. "I think I'll draw the line at crying."

Rose imitated drawing a vertical line with her finger and he laughed slightly, his laughter having a tremor to it that Rose didn't fail to notice. "So can we go out soon? The TARDIS agrees with me. She's ever so bored."

The Doctor frowned. "How come you can communicate with her?"

Rose shrugged. "No idea," she said noncommittally.

He sighed as Rose began to stroke his hair lovingly, looking up at him with big eyes. "All right, Rose. We'll go out tomorrow."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The two of them stepped out of the TARDIS, the Doctor shutting the door quietly behind them. He immediately sought her hand, clutching it and pulling her close to him as she began to walk along the cobbled stones. His grip was tighter than usual, and Rose could tell that he wasn't going to let her go unless it was absolutely necessary. She could even feel him shaking a little.

"Right, so this planet is called…" Rose trailed off, looking to him for an answer. He grinned despite his nerves.

"Champleum," he replied, hopping a little as he walked.

Rose grimaced. "Why does that remind me of a mushroom?"

"That's 'champignon'. French for it. You probably took French at school for a little while- that's why it rings a bell."

"You saying I'm not clever enough to take it on to a further level than just 'a little while'?"

"No, no, not saying that… not at all. Of course you're clever enough. Of course of course of course! It's just that maybe you were lazy at school and couldn't be bothered to continue, that sort of thing. I was a bit like that, but I-" He stopped abruptly as Rose nudged him.

"I'm just kidding."

"Oh, okay."

"So what's Champleum famous for?"

The Doctor grinned, if possible, even more. "It's a beautiful place. Beautiful. Rolling hills, running streams, herds of wild wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plains… that sort of thing."

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Oh." She looked around her at the streets that looked quite like those of London. Intense amounts of pollution rose from the buildings, and there were many people dressed in shabby, dirty material. It was early evening, from what she could tell.

"Yeah. Well." He stopped dead in the middle of the street, his expression a frown. Rose wormed her hand out from the grip of his. "It's… changed a bit."

"I'll say. Doctor, are they slaves?"

The Doctor stuck his hands into his trouser pockets and wandered up a teenage girl, a little younger than Rose. "Hello!" he said, with a winning smile. Rose came up behind him and the girl raised her head, blinking. "Can you tell me, um, who you're working for?"

The girl gave them a meaningful look but said nothing, soon returning to her work of chiselling away at a piece of wood. "Right, right," the Doctor said, "and… um…" He trailed off, shrugging at Rose.

"What are you making?" she asked gently, but the girl didn't even look up this time. Suddenly, there was a scream and Rose felt the Doctor grip her hand.

"That's our cue!" he said, with a grin. And they began to run.

Oh, she'd missed this. She'd missed this so much. It was their first time out of the TARDIS since the incident with the mind torture and Rose hadn't quite realised just _how_ restless she was getting. Being able to run with him at her side filled her with so much pleasure. He was taking her away in his magical machine, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

They skidded to a halt after turning a few corners, outside a house where a small crowd was beginning to gather. A man of about fifty or fifty-five was yelling loudly at a girl of about sixteen, brandishing something that looked distinctly like a whip. The Doctor frowned.

"That's the last time you burn one of my meals!" the man was yelling, his eyes flashing furiously. He brought the whip down upon the girl and she let out a heartbreaking sob, mingled with a scream. Rose's hand tightened on the Doctor's, but he seemed reluctant to interfere. Perhaps worried that he'd receive the same treatment?

Rose released his hand and leapt forward, catching the man's wrist. She just heard the Doctor's voice calling out her name, but adrenaline was running through her veins now. "What are you doing?" she demanded, as the man turned to look at her.

And then, with no warning, the man slapped her. She staggered back with the force of it, completely unprepared. "You stay out of this," he snarled, raising his hand to strike her again.

Luckily, the Doctor intervened. It was he who caught the wrist of the man this time, his eyes blazing with fury. "Can I ask," he said, in a semi jovial tone, "why you suddenly took it into your head to hit my wife?"

The man cringed, pulling himself out from the Doctor's grip. "Your wife? I'm so sorry, Sir. I didn't realise… I thought she was a-" The sound of doors slamming stopped his talk as a car that was easily recognisable as one belonging to the police pulled up and uniformed men climbed out of it.

They headed towards the scene and the Doctor stepped back slightly, before turning to Rose and cupping her cheek with his hand. "Are you okay?"

Rose nodded, brushing away her tears with the back of her hand. It still stung where she had been hit, but there were more important things at stake, apparently, as the Doctor turned back. The uniformed men had pulled the young girl to her feet by now, and the Doctor quickly stepped forward, blocking the way back to the car.

"Hold on, hold on," he said, holding his hands up, curled into firsts but with his index fingers pointing to the sky, "what are you arresting her for? She hasn't done anything wrong."

"We got a call to come to this address to pick up one of the slaves," one of the men explained. "If you'd step aside, Sir."

"But hold on… slaves? Whatever happened to the wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plains? The rolling hills, the running streams-"

"The what?"

"This is Champleum. You're not meant to have slavery here! The last time I visited this planet, it was hardly populated!"

The man stared at the Doctor as if he had escaped from the local mental asylum and needed to be returned there sooner rather than later. "Where have you been living?" he asked. "Slavery was introduced here about fifty years ago."

"Fifty- _fifty_ years ago? But that's… why? All she did was burn a meal- well, a few meals, apparently. You can't arrest her for burning a few-"

"You'd do well not to get involved, Sir." The man's voice had turned dark. "I can see that you are new to these parts and do not understand our customs, but you will in time." Addressing all those around him, he said, "Now all of you, get back to your homes. Curfew's in a few minutes."

The crowd dissipated and the Doctor was pushed aside as the men headed to the car. He stepped towards Rose as the whipping man went back into his house. "Well, Rose Tyler… feel like investigating?"

Rose was staring, open-mouthed, at the car that was powering down the road. She linked her arm in his and looked up at him. "Curfew. I don't like the sound of that."

"Neither do I." The Doctor bounced on the balls of his feet. "But that's what makes it fun!"

Rose chewed her lip and tried to stop him from hopping, but he wouldn't. "I'd love to," she said, "especially since there's a damsel in distress involved… but maybe tomorrow, Doctor. I'm exhausted. Plus, I don't really want to know what happens after the curfew is enforced."

"Exhausted, right. To bed then, Rose Tyler- allons-y!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Rose had slept like a log. When she woke up in the morning, it was to the Doctor's grinning face, which was proclaiming that she needed to get up- right now- because they had some investigating to do. Groggily, she had climbed out of bed and here they were now, walking through the streets again, hand in hand.

They had agreed that Rose would be his wife for the duration of the trip, because clearly if she wasn't, then she wouldn't be protected- for some reason. But as they were walking, Rose started to realise the reason.

"Doctor," she said, and he looked at her.

"Yes?"

"Have you noticed… the slaves? They're all female."

The Doctor frowned and sucked in breath whilst saying, "Yeah, I had noticed that, yeah." He moved his jaw from side to side.

"And they're all sort of… my age, aren't they?" she continued.

"Yeah, looks like it, yeah."

"But there's no one any older than that. They don't seem to be slaves anyway." She blinked as a woman of around forty passed them. She was dressed a lot better than the slaves were. "God, Doctor, you don't think they'll think I'm a slave, do you?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Nope. If anyone asks, Rose, you're my wife, remember? It seems like the ones older than about twenty-five or the married ones are protected- so you're under my protection, m'love." Rose giggled. "What?"

"M'love," she repeated, flicking him a grin as they turned a corner.

"Oh, now that's interesting!" The Doctor gestured ahead of the two of them, where a large town hall seemed to be standing. "Isn't that interesting, _m'love_?"

"Yes, I'm sure it is, _m'dear_," Rose responded, swinging their hands between them. "What's so interesting about it?"

"A town meeting? What isn't interesting about it? Although there doesn't seem to be one going on at the moment. Shame." He sucked in breath. "Still, we can go and see anyway. Come on!"

He began to run and Rose matched his pace, still holding his hand. When they reached the entrance and tried to go inside, they were stopped abruptly by two rough looking men in uniform.

"Sorry," one grunted, "you can't go in there."

"And why not?" the Doctor replied, with a grin that concealed his true, irritated feelings at being stopped, Rose could tell.

"_She _can't," he responded, jabbing a finger at Rose.

"Ah…" the Doctor voiced, nodding and reaching for the psychic paper. "Well, you see, my wife and I are very important pillars in the community. Well, not this one, but-"

"She could be the Queen of Sheba for all I care," the other guard said, with a slight snarl, "she's still not coming in."

The Doctor tucked the psychic paper back into his pocket with a sigh. Rose nudged his arm. "It's all right, go on in. I'll stay out here for a bit."

"Rose-"

She cut across him, lowering her voice. "No, Doctor. No complaining. I'll wait out here and you can investigate. If we want to get anywhere, we can't be joined at the hip." At the same time as she thought, _Unfortunately_, she also thought, n_ot like _him _and me._

The Doctor pulled a face, but she raised her eyebrows and released his hand. "Oh, all right. But don't wander off, okay?"

"You know me," Rose said, with a fleeting grin before he disappeared into the building. Immediately, she began to wander off down the street, further and further, until she was confronted by a policeman, drugged and taken back to police headquarters.

x

A knock at the door made James Holden look up from his desk. He swiped his glasses from his nose and rubbed his eyes wearily. "Come in," he said, his voice just as tired.

The policeman who had come across Rose minus the Doctor entered the room, taking a seat on the chair in front of the desk. He rested his elbows on the table and put his chin into his hands. "Yes?" Holden asked.

"I- I came to inform you that I found a girl on the street today. She's not from around these parts- claimed that she had a husband, that she had a right to be wandering around alone at her age." The policeman rubbed his chin.

Holden sighed. "Why are you coming to me with this?" he wondered aloud.

"Because my father is ill. He needs someone to look after him, someone who'll take care of him. Although clearly mad, the girl should grow accustomed to her position and take care of him quite happily. I think."

Holden rubbed his eyes again. "All right. You can bring her to him. Now get out of my sight."

The policemen left quickly, voicing his gratitude as he went. Holden stood up and walked to the window of his office, pressing a hand to it and surveying the street outside.

_I don't want to do this anymore._

_x  
_

The Doctor left the town hall, his hands stowed into his pockets, as they usually were. He wasn't particularly surprised that he couldn't see Rose anywhere, because she seemed like the headstrong type who would do that kind of thing and walk off, if he was entirely honest.

Oh- this was so entirely strange. He loved the girl. He _was_ surprised that he'd fallen in love with her so easily, because he'd never felt this way before, or acted this recklessly. But there had been something about her- there still was something about her.

He felt safe with her. He could tell that she felt safe with him. And that's all they needed, wasn't it? But there was something tugging on his consciousness, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. And it was something to do with Rose. But what?

He frowned as he tried to figure it out. He was a Time Lord. He wasn't stupid, he was brilliant, and he was meant to work things out, work things out like he had worked out other things.

The wind ruffled his hair as he set off down the street, his eyes watching out for Rose, because he missed her already. Much as he hated to admit it, this Time Lord had fallen for a simple, human girl. No. That was wrong. He smiled slightly. She may have been human, but she wasn't simple.

In fact, the situation was getting more complicated by the second.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Rose woke up, her eyes adjusting to the light. She was confused for a moment, first thinking that she was back in Jackie Tyler's old flat, and then that she was on board the TARDIS with her first Doctor, then that she was in her bed at Pete Tyler's mansion, and then that she was on board the TARDIS with her- for lack of a better word- current Doctor.

Soon, she realised that she was in none of these places, and then she remembered. She sat up abruptly, just as the face of a (grumpy) old man swam into view. "Hurry yerself an' get up, will ya?" he huffed. "I need someone to make m'tea."

Reminded of the Doctor's 'm'love', Rose blinked and asked, "Where am I?"

"You're in me house- that's where y'are- an' you're stayin' in me house as me slave."

"Slave?" Rose asked, blinking again.

"Aye, slave."

"But I'm…" She paused. "No- I can't be your slave." She laughed slightly. "I'm… I'm sorry, there seems to have been a misunderstanding. I'm _married_. You can't just keep me here as your slave- I'm sorry, but you just can't." She stood up and the old man stared at her blankly.

Rose quickly found the entrance to the house and tried the door. It was locked. She turned back to him. "Open this door!"

The old man shook his head, so Rose did the only thing she could think of; she started to bang on the door. She was scared. She shouldn't have let the Doctor go off like that. He had been right with whatever he was going to say, and somehow she knew what that was. It was dangerous, and-

She paused, mid thought as she spotted the keys to the door on a table several metres away from her. The man's eyes followed hers and as one they leapt towards them. Luckily, Rose got there first, snatching them up and belting to the door. She inserted the only key into the only lock as she'd done so many times with the TARDIS, and collapsed out of the door.

She began to run but heard the man pounding after her. He leapt forward and she fell to the floor. Then he began to hit her. She screamed, tears running down her cheeks. And then she saw _him_. And he was like fire, and ice, and rage. And she felt safe.

The Doctor caught the man's wrists and pulled him off Rose, his eyes furious. He let go and said, very quietly, with his voice full of malice, "May I ask what you're doing?"

A crowd had gathered, again, and Rose didn't dare to get up. She slithered over to the Doctor, resting her head against his thigh as she attempted to blink back her tears. "I'm punishin' me slave," the old man growled.

"Oh, your slave!" the Doctor said, with a fake smile. "That's a coincidence- your slave happens to look exactly the same as _my wife_. Is that you, Rose?" he added, looking down at her.

Rose nodded mutely. "Well, then. I'm glad that we got all of that sorted out," the Doctor said, clapping his hands together. "Now if you'd kindly-"

He staggered backwards as the man punched him in the face. He reeled and stood tall again, his eyes blazing, before he lost his cool and retaliated, pushing the man to the floor, falling on top of him and wounding any part of him that he could.

"Doctor!" Rose cried, shocked, just as a familiar police car pulled up and a few policemen climbed out, running to the scene, pushing past the now standing Rose and pulling the two men apart. The Doctor was sporting a bleeding lip and the old man was bleeding from his nose.

"What is going on?" one of the police officers roared into the Doctor's face as he was held back by two others. This was a little too familiar for Rose. She stepped forward.

"I'm really sorry about this," she said, softly. "I was sent to be this man's slave but…" She looked at the Doctor worriedly. "He's my husband. I'm not supposed to be a slave, because I'm married. He can get… really carried away sometimes. He's just looking out for me. Please let him go."

The Doctor stopped struggling and the two men let go of him. The first policeman turned to Rose. "I'm so sorry." There was a pause. "Are you all right?"

And without warning, Rose collapsed.

x

The Doctor paced the floor agitatedly, his Converse squeaking on the highly polished tiles. He would be feeling distinctly dirty if he hadn't been worrying about other things, what with his battered, off-white Converse pressing against the floor of immaculate white tiles. Oh, who was he kidding- he needed a distraction, anyway.

He looked up as the door squeaked open, and a black-haired man in a tweed suit stepped into the room. The man seemed apologetic, which was a good thing, as if he wasn't, the Doctor was just about ready to throw somebody out of a window, and this man was the nearest target.

The man spoke first. "I'm Mr Holden." He stroke forward and held a hand out to the Doctor. Holden looked braver than he felt; he was terrified of the look in the man's eyes, the man who was a good several inches taller than he was. "And you are?"

The Doctor didn't accept his hand. Ignoring Holden's question, he said, very calmly, "I'm going to give you one chance to stop the slave trade. Because my Rose was targeted, and my Rose is currently in that room being observed by nurses and doctors, and apparently, it's all your fault, Holden."

"With all due respect, Mr-?"

"Doctor. Just the Doctor," he snapped in response, anticipating the next question.

"With all due respect, Doctor, I cannot stop the slave trade. I do, however, sincerely apologise for what happened to your wife-"

"Do you?" the Doctor asked quietly, his voice full of fury. "I'm warning you, Holden-"

His anger was interrupted by a nurse coming out of the door that the Doctor had been pacing by. She looked nervous when both men jerked and turned to face her. "Is she all right?" the Doctor demanded.

The nurse nodded. "She'll be fine. You can take her home, soon- but no taxing journeys, I'm afraid. Can I ask for a name?"

"Rose Tyler," the Doctor responded distractedly.

"Yours," the nurse said, patiently.

"The Doctor."

"And what relation are you to Rose?"

"Her…" He trailed off, thinking. "I'm her friend. Well… we're travelling companions. I'm… I'm her…" He stopped and looked at Holden, who was surveying him curiously. "I'm her husband," he muttered, finally, remembering.

The nurse nodded. "All right, Doctor. I know this may seem like a bit of a strange question, but it's always best to ask in these situations. You did know that Rose was pregnant, didn't you?"

The Doctor's eyes grew wide. "I did know that Rose was what, sorry?"

"Pregnant," the nurse responded. "Is that a no?"

The Doctor found Holden next to him in an instant, apologising even more profusely. "I'm so sorry," he said, "that she had to go through that."

The Doctor's eyes were turned upon the man in a second. "_Now_ will you call off the slave trade? My wife, her child- she could have… what if they'd…" He left his sentence unfinished.

Holden responded with a meagre, "I'll see what I can do."

x

Back inside the TARDIS, Rose knew- she just _knew_- that she had to talk to him about this. He had that pensive look on his face, the one that she knew meant trouble, or that he was confused, or angry, or God knew what else.

She had asked the nurse, when she came back in, if she'd told the Doctor about her… situation. The nurse had. Half an hour later, Rose and the Doctor had been walking back towards the TARDIS in silence. And here they were now. She was standing by the closed door, and the Doctor was by the console, leaning over it.

Rose cleared her throat nervously, watching the Doctor fiddle with the controls of the TARDIS. His mind wasn't on that, though- she could tell. "Are you angry at me?" she whispered.

He looked up, his expression confused. "Of course I'm not angry at you. It's not your fault."

"But something's wrong."

The Doctor gave her the wide-eyed look he gave everyone when they stated the obvious. "Yeah. Yeah, something's wrong."

Rose nibbled her lip, brushing her hair out of her eyes with a hand. "What is it? Because if you're not ready, then I know how you feel." She laughed slightly.

The Doctor shook his head. "It's not that. Well, not really. I mean… well, we've only known each other for… a few months. Moving a bit fast, isn't it?"

Rose frowned. "So what do you want me to do?"

"No, no, nothing! I didn't mean that, no." He stepped forward, taking her hands in his. "It's just…" He shrugged. "I don't know, really. It's unexpected, I suppose."

She nodded, massaging his palms. "I know it is."

Suddenly the TARDIS lurched and Rose was thrown backwards. Although off balance himself, the Doctor caught her and wrapped his arms around her, falling to the ground first so that she landed on something soft- that being him. She quickly got to her feet and the Doctor jumped up, running to the console and pulling the screen to face him.

"Well, that's very not good."

"What is?"

He gave her a look of deadly seriousness, his expression hard. "The TARDIS is being pulled back to Pete Tyler's mansion."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Without any warning, The Doctor dived underneath the console and pulled out a device which Rose recognised. "That's an extrapolator!" she exclaimed.

He gave her a curious look. "How do you know?"

She stumbled, a little wrong footed. "I work at Torchwood, remember? Or… worked at Torchwood."

The Doctor gave her a look that she was sure would usually accompany a growl, but he seemed to be too busy thinking of the task at hand to make noises, too. "I can't stop us, but I can give us a good bump. Should prevent us from landing somewhere where they're ready for us- me."

He grabbed a mallet from the console and glanced at Rose as the TARDIS landed. "Hold on!" he yelled, and whacked the extrapolator. Rose felt a lurching sensation as she grabbed onto one of the supporting pillars and they landed somewhere else.

"Right, come on, Rose- before they realise where we've landed and try to break in," the Doctor said, leaping to his feet away from where he fell and running to the door, leaving his coat hanging on the structure of the TARDIS. He grabbed Rose's hand as he opened the door and they stepped outside, slamming the door behind them.

"Doctor," Rose said, her eyes on the woman in the room. It was Jackie.

"Rose!" she said, running forward and enveloping her daughter into a hug. The Doctor stepped aside, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Jackie released Rose, looked at him and said, "Come here, you." She pulled him into an embrace too, one which he did not return. Rose could tell that he was on edge. "They've got Torchwood personnel waiting outside the house," Jackie said, letting go of the Doctor. "Mickey said you'd land out there."

"Mickey?" Rose questioned.

"It's not what you think, love."

"Doctor!" The Doctor froze as Pete came into the room, followed by Mickey. Jackie backed off and the Doctor immediately reached for his sonic screwdriver, pulling it out and holding it up, as a warning. "I'm unarmed," Pete said, raising his hands to prove it and then dropping them back down. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Rose, are you okay?" Mickey asked, stepping forward slightly. But Rose stepped closer to the Doctor, her hand on the arm that wasn't currently stretched out in front of him. Pete shut the door and locked it.

"Can we talk about this?" he asked.

Rose glared at him. "Talk about what?" she demanded, her eyes flashing, her grip tightening on the Doctor. "Talk about how you arrested the Doctor when he hadn't done anything wrong, how you tortured him when you could have just asked me- or him, for that matter?"

"Rose, we had to find out what he was doing here. He wouldn't tell us and you weren't exactly going to be cooperative, were you?" Pete said, his tone angry.

"What, so you thought you could just torture him? That's fine, is it, by Torchwood's standards? No, Pete- that's too far. Way, way too far," Rose snarled.

Pete sighed. "Look, we just need to talk. I'll admit it was a little rash, and maybe it wasn't the best thing to do-"

The Doctor gave a laugh not unlike the one his other self had used when the Daleks had told him to open the Genesis Ark. "That's an understatement!" he said loudly, his grip on the sonic screwdriver never wavering.

"Doctor, if you'd just put down that thing and we can talk about-"

"No!" Rose interrupted. "We're not going to hang around here and wait for you to bring Torchwood staff in to arrest him again. We're leaving."

"I've locked the front door, Rose. They can't come in. And as I said, I'm unarmed. So is Mickey- and so is your mother, believe or not- but I'd be wary of her despite that."

"Oi!" Jackie said. Pete smiled to show he was joking.

"Oh, it's smiles all around!" Rose said, sarcastically. "So long as you're happy, Pete."

"Rose, can I talk to you? Alone?" Pete stressed.

"No. I'm not leaving the Doctor here, with Mickey- with anybody."

"I give you my word that no one will touch him. Just… come and talk to me. Please."

The Doctor gave Rose a look and gently prised her arm from his. "It's okay, Rose. I've got the sonic and the TARDIS." She looked at him and nodded, moving away from him. "Just don't be long." She turned back and saw the fear in his eyes, although he was trying to hide it. "Please."

Rose nodded and Pete unlocked the door. The two of them left the room and Pete shut the door behind him. She looked around, instinctively searching for any Torchwood personnel that she recognised, but there was no one.

"I shut them out," Pete said, both reading and breaking into her thoughts at the same time. "They wanted to arrest the Doctor, obviously. I just have to make sure you know, Rose, that I didn't authorise that mind scan."

"What, the mind torture?" Rose quipped bitingly.

Pete blew out breath from his cheeks. "Yes, the mind torture. I told them to find out what he was doing here, why he'd developed such an interest in you and taken you away- the sort of stuff I needed to know, Rose. I didn't order them to-"

"Why did you need to know?" Rose demanded. "He's nothing to do with you-"

"Because I care about _you_, Rose. This has never been about that man- that version of the Doctor, never. It's always been about making sure that you're all right."

"Making sure I'm all right?" Rose repeated, semi hysterically. "Making sure _I'm_ all right? You've done a fine job of that, you have. Absolutely fantastic! No, really."

"Rose, please." Pete drew in breath. "I think you've forgotten that this Doctor… he isn't _the_ Doctor."

"No, Pete. You're definitely right about that. He's not. _The_ Doctor-" she put stress on the first word "-never even told me that he loved me."

"And this one said that he did? Rose, can't you see that this might be a trap? That he just wants to get at you? This Doctor might not be a carbon copy of the old one, as you obviously think he is. His intentions might be rather more-" he hesitated at the look on his adopted daughter's face "-evil," he finished, lamely.

"Evil?" Rose snorted. "He's not evil, Pete. I'm a good judge of character- always have been, but I'm better now. Much better. And he's not trying to get at me, or hurt me, or weave his way into this family- he's just the Doctor. And I _love_ him."

Pete reacted to her comment with a stunned silence. "Love him?" he said, stumbling over the words.

"Yeah," Rose determined, flushing pink, "love him. And he loves me. And we're together. And we're going to be together, whether you like it or not. And you're not going to hurt him again."

Pete sighed. "Rose, all I want to do is protect you. I don't want you hurt, or taken advantage of. It would be bad if anyone did that to you but- especially from a man who looks like the Doctor."

"Don't you get it? He _is _the Doctor. A parallel version of him, maybe, but he loves me. Maybe more than the first Doctor ever did."

"Rose, I'll hold off Torchwood. I'll make sure that no one has the freedom to arrest him and you two can come and go as you please. But you have to promise me- _promise_ me- that you won't allow either of you to get hurt. You, or this Doctor, if he's genuine. Can you promise me that?"

"Why do I have to promise you anything?"

Pete took a deep breath. "Because you're my daughter, Rose."

Smiling slightly, Rose shook her head. "No. No, I'm not."

He reached for her shoulders and put his hands firmly upon them. "I care about you. I love you. Please. Just promise me that you're not going to get hurt."

Rose raised her head and looked Pete in the eyes. "I promise. But now you can tell me why you forced the TARDIS to come here."

Pete released her. "I'm surprised that actually worked, if I'm honest, Rose. We put a tracking device on the TARDIS, you see, as soon as we brought it into the building, so we knew where it was. It was quite a big stab in the dark, the method we used."

"Which was?"

"We activated the tracker, set it to come back to us. A bit like a homing pigeon," he said, with an indulgent smile. "Didn't actually think it would work- but it did." Rose opened her mouth, presumably to say something, but Pete continued, "And the reason? I had to explain, Rose, that I never meant for this Doctor to be hurt in that way." He sighed. "I'll admit that I was pretty pissed off when you dropped everything and left with him, which is why I had him arrested like that, but I reacted wrongly and I _am_ sorry, Rose. Can you forgive me?"

Rose's expression softened and she began to shake her head slowly. "It's not my forgiveness that you need."

Pete nodded and together they re-entered the living room. Rose was glad to see that the Doctor had put his sonic screwdriver away, but he was leaning against the doors of the TARDIS, his arms folded across his chest. Rose immediately crossed the room and embraced him, a gesture which he returned wholeheartedly. He was trembling ever so slightly, something that he probably thought she wouldn't notice.

"Are you okay?" she whispered into his ear. He nodded and she pulled away, standing next to him and facing the three others in the room. Pete had his phone out and hit the green button upon it, before stowing it in his trouser pocket and stepping forward.

"I've called off the armed guard," Pete said, only half jokingly. "You're not a wanted man anymore." The Doctor ran his tongue over his teeth and nodded once, curtly. "All I can say is sorry. I never meant for them to torture you, and I know it was wrong for them to do so." The Doctor didn't respond. Whether it was because if he did his voice would break, or because he was unforgiving, Rose simply did not know.

"Doctor?" Rose asked, giving him a little nudge. He flinched. From his reaction, she thought that maybe he had been reliving what he had been put through. God, he was so _vulnerable._ Like a little kid himself.

"You're welcome to stay here," Pete continued gently. "Both of you. For as long as you like. We have enough spare rooms and you can leave the- that box in here, if you want." Rose nodded at Pete gratefully. He wouldn't have known the name of the TARDIS had it not been for the first Doctor. "So long as Jackie doesn't mind, that is."

She opened her mouth to respond to Pete, to thank him for his offer but to tell him no thank you, they weren't going to stay. Surprisingly, the Doctor responded, with words which brought around the complete opposite effect. "We'd love to stay, thanks."

She gave him a curious look and he responded by smiling at her gently. Her heart warmed for him. She could tell that he didn't particularly want to stay, but perhaps he'd realised that she missed her family, and now the threat of arrest wasn't hanging over his head, maybe he wanted to get to know them… because they were together, after all.

She reached for his hand, enveloping it in hers. He weaved his fingers in with hers and she stood on her tiptoes, whispering gently into his ear, "Thank you." He responded by moving his cheek to her mouth, and she planted a happy kiss on his skin.

Maybe things were going to be all right after all.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Rose was timeless again.

At her house, it was only eight days after she had left with the Doctor. She had been away with him for at least a month, if not longer. Her sleeping pattern was all confused and that night she found herself wandering the halls of the TARDIS in her woollen pyjamas, for lack of anything better to do.

Whilst the Doctor had semi happily agreed to staying at the mansion, he had moved the TARDIS to the back garden and had insisted (although quietly and only to Rose, almost as if not to offend) that he should be allowed to sleep on the ship. Rose had completely agreed, wanting to sleep on the ship herself to keep an eye on the Doctor. She didn't want him disappearing, whether of his own accord or not of his own accord. He was too important to her for that. Much too important.

She came to the kitchen and looked in the fridge for something to eat. There was a bar of chocolate that Rose picked up. She didn't even bother to inspect it as she tore off the packaging and started munching her way through it, sitting at the kitchen table.

It was when she felt a pair of eyes upon her that she looked up. The Doctor was standing at the door in a light grey t-shirt and black pyjama trousers, watching her with an amused smile playing about his lips. She broke off a piece of the bar and held it out to him. Silently, he came forward and sat down, accepting the chocolate and biting into it in such an innocently seductive way that Rose had to avert her eyes.

"You couldn't sleep either?" he asked, swirling his tongue around his mouth in order to appreciate the taste of the chocolate fully. Rose looked back at him.

"No," she said softly, taking another bite. "I don't know. Ever since I've been travelling with you it's been like… I can't settle down again, at home." She looked into his eyes. "Do you know what I mean?"

He sighed. "Yeah."

"And…" She hesitated, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear nervously. "I don't know what to do now. Like… what are we going to do?"

"About what?" he asked, his mouth full of the last remnants of the piece of chocolate that she'd given him. His voice was thick, and she had to think for a moment in order to work out what he'd said.

"About… you know. The…" She trailed off, as he gave her a confused look. "The… the baby?" she continued. He hadn't forgotten about it already, had he?

"The baby," he repeated.

"Yes, Doctor. I'm pregnant. That means we're going to have a baby," Rose said patiently, as though talking to a child.

"Uh huh." He stared at the wall. "I haven't really thought about it. Been a bit… preoccupied. With… the whole… arrest… situation."

"Doctor, you said that you would talk to me if something was wrong. Remember that?" He nodded. "I can tell something's wrong. So talk to me."

He looked back at her, swallowing, as if nervously. "It's definitely mine?"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Is that what you've been worried about?"

"Partly, yeah."

She smiled slightly, putting down the empty chocolate wrapper and reaching across to sandwich his hands between hers. "Then worry no more. It's definitely yours. The nurses said I was about one month along. They couldn't give me anything really accurate, obviously, because I was only there for a little while." She paused, and they descended into a companionable silence. "Mind you, I said I was tired, didn't I? This is probably why."

"Not probably, Rose. Definitely," the Doctor said knowledgeably. "Your hormones are going crazy at the moment. And you're eating for two now." Did she detect a bit of pride in his voice, or was that imagined? "Any other symptoms?"

Rose shook her head. "No. At least, not yet."

"Well, food cravings, apparently," he corrected, pointing at the chocolate bar. She giggled, embarrassed.

"You know, it's funny," she said, once her laughter had subsided. "I always thought that pregnancy would be all- you know, _vomiting_. Everyone always vomits when they're pregnant. Morning sickness. Everyone knows about that. But… nothing." She shrugged.

He smiled wanly. "You just wait, Rose Tyler. You'll be wishing you hadn't said that."

Rose pretended to be angry, poking him on his forearm, and not lightly. She scraped her chair closer to him, until she was beside him. He snaked his arms around her waist, resting his hands upon her stomach and nuzzling into her ear.

"What am I going to tell Mum?" Rose asked softly, goose bumps rising on her arms because of how he was tickling her neck with his cool breath. "It's not like I can keep it a secret, is it?"

She felt the Doctor shake his head. "No. Some secrets are hard to keep," he responded. Rose flushed, and immediately felt guilty. Before she could fully envelop herself with this emotion, however, the Doctor continued speaking. "Do you want to tell her on this visit or… the next one?"

"How long are we going to stay here?" she asked, regaining her composure.

"I don't know. How long do you want to stay here?"

"Doctor."

She felt him smile against her ear. "A few days? A week? I don't mind, Rose."

She turned to look at him, lifting her hand to stroke his cheek with a thumb. "Do you feel comfortable here? Because if you don't, I don't want to stay here for a long time. Or at all, really, but since you said we would I suppose we have to."

"So long as you're here, I feel comfortable." She smiled at him and pecked him on the lips gently.

"Not for long, yeah?" she promised. "I know you don't like being all domestic, like settling down in one place. Because you said so, didn't you?" He nodded. "Now, since both of us can't sleep, and I'm bored…" She trailed off, a seductive glint coming into her eyes.

"And you're bored…?" the Doctor prompted.

Rose giggled and stood up, breaking the grip the Doctor had on her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, reaching up and kissing him passionately on the lips. She ran her free hand through his hair and he slipped his up her top, running it up and down her back. She broke off. "Here, let me spell it out for you." And she led him from the kitchen, towards his bedroom.

x

Rose woke the next morning in the Doctor's arms. It had been a while since this had last happened and she was pleased- incredibly pleased- that it was happening now. She turned and looked at him, unable to help a little squeal of delight escaping her lips. He was fast asleep, his mouth slightly open, his eyes gently shut at he breathed in, and out. He looked absolutely adorable.

And then it hit her. A sudden desperation to go to the toilet. She was almost bowled over by it. Quickly, she disentangled herself from his arms and dashed to the loo, before taking a quick shower and dressing. When she came out of the bathroom, the Doctor had curled around himself protectively, his expression a frown, his hand stretched out with his palm face down on the bed, the spot where Rose had been lying. She smiled and left the room, heading to the house.

When she came into the kitchen, it was to see Jackie already up and about, preparing June's breakfast. Rose immediately went to her little sister, picking her up out of the highchair and snuggling her against her chest.

"Oh, Rose!" Jackie gasped as she turned round. "You almost gave me a heart attack. Did you have to, love, I only just got her settled!"

Rose wasn't even slightly confused by the way Jackie had leapt onto a different train of thought within a couple of seconds. Both Doctors did it all the time. "Sorry," she said, replacing June in the highchair. Her sister began to struggle, threatening to cry. "Oh I'm sorry, June," Rose said, in a simpering voice, taking hold of her sister's hands and tickling her palms, "we'll play after breakfast, yeah?"

"See what you've done!" Jackie said, elbowing Rose out of the way and putting June's breakfast in front of her. "You're such a calamity. I'm not hiring you as June's babysitter!" Rose smiled back at her mother, who was now rifling through different cupboards. "What do you want for breakfast? We've got cereal, or I could make you… I don't know, a fried egg? Or a sandwich!"

"Cereal's fine, Mum."

"What'll the Doctor have?" Jackie turned round, a packet of cereal, three bowls and three spoons in her hands. Rose wondered how on earth she'd got them out so quickly. It came with being a mother, she supposed. "Where _is_ the Doctor?"

Rose took the bowls from Jackie and set them around the table. Her mother followed with the spoons as June slurped her food happily. "He's still sleeping."

"Sleeping?" Jackie looked shocked, and Rose wasn't surprised. "That's rare. You should get people to pay to see that, you should- you'd make a mint."

Rose giggled. "Leave him alone, Mum." She sat down and helped herself to some cereal. Jackie did the same.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about him, actually."

"Oh?" Rose said absentmindedly as she poured milk into her bowl.

"Yeah. Have you told him about him yet? I mean the other him. God, this is so confusing, isn't it? But have you told him?" she pressed.

Rose shrugged, spooning some cereal into her mouth. "What would I say? 'Hey, Doctor. I know I've been with you for a while and I've professed my undying love to you, but the thing is, I was kind of in love with another version of you and I still kind of am, and that's the only reason I came with you in the first place, to find out about you, to see whether'…" Rose trailed off in her recital as Jackie stared. "What?"

"Undying love?" she said, stunned.

"Oh. Yeah. Undying love. Sorry."

"You're in love with him?"

Rose shrugged again. "I guess." She stirred her cereal in a concentrated manner, determinedly not looking at her mother.

"Are you sure you're in love with him, and not _him_?" Jackie asked.

"I'm in love with both of them, Mum," Rose said. "And it's so hard. And I don't know what to do because what would he do if he knew? He's so vulnerable, this version of him, and if he left me I don't know what I'd do." She began to sob. "I don't know what I'd-"

By this time, Jackie had stood and put her arms her daughter, shushing her. Rose stood up and embraced her mother, still crying. "He'll understand, love. If you love him like you say you do, and he loves you back just the same, then he'll understand. You have to tell him, especially if you want to start a life with him-"

"But that's not all!" Rose burst out. "I'm pregnant! And it's his!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

When the Doctor entered the living room, there was silence.

Rose and Jackie had been in the middle of arguing loudly about the baby. It wasn't that Jackie wasn't happy about the fact that she was about to become a grandmother, but it was that Rose had not told this Doctor about that Doctor and yet they'd already had sex without contraception. Not to mention the fact that Rose was having sex with this Doctor whilst that Doctor was in a parallel universe, moving mountains to find his way back to her.

Rose watched the Doctor clear his throat nervously and her stomach tightened as Jackie eyed him with a stony gaze. Her mother then gave her a very pointed look, one that Rose didn't particularly appreciate. She sat down heavily on one of the sofas, and Jackie did the same.

"Doctor, I think maybe we should talk. About the… about the baby," Rose said gently.

The Doctor swallowed and sat nervously in an armchair across from the two of them and Jackie leant forward. "How much are you planning to get involved with the child?" she said, immediately.

"Mum," Rose reprimanded angrily, her face flushing red. "I can handle this myself."

"Well clearly you can't, Rose!" Jackie retorted, before looking back at the Doctor. "So? Are you going to stay with my Rose and your child? Or are you going to go gallivanting off to God knows where whilst she's stuck here, looking after a baby-"

"Mum!" Rose interrupted. "I'm sorry, Doctor." She stood and pulled Jackie out of the room, slamming the door and glaring daggers at her. She kept her voice low as she said, angrily, "Let me deal with this." Jackie was about to interrupt, but Rose went on, "No, Mum! I'm not joking or anything. Let me deal with this! I don't want him to leave and if you terrify him then he will."

"How do you know?" Jackie demanded.

"Because I know him, Mum. He won't mind looking after this baby with me. He won't. But if you pressure him into anything, he'll get scared and belt. I don't want him to leave."

"Then tell him the truth!" her mother hissed.

"No! You know what, Mum, this is my life and I'm making my own decision. If you don't like it then you can stay out of it! I don't need you pressuring either of us!"

"Rose, you're about to become a mother. This child's father needs to know the truth. If you keep it from him for years, what happens when the baby's all grown up, and he finds out somehow? What if the Doctor finds a way to get back to you and turns up, whilst you've got a nice little cosy family going on with someone who looks _exactly_ like him? It's not fair, Rose- it's _not fair_. Do you want to hurt him?"

Rose continued to glare. "I am not going to be pushed around by you, okay? I refuse to let that happen. I'll tell him in my own time. Imagine what he'd think if he found out. He'd think I was lying, or trying to get to him, or something. He'd not trust me, he'd leave, he'd… just _stay out of my life_, all right?" She was frustrated because she couldn't raise her voice, because otherwise he'd hear. She opened the door and stormed into the room. The Doctor was standing up, facing the door.

Jackie came in after her daughter and shut the door. Rose ignored her mother's presence and went to the Doctor, standing a few metres away from him. "I know she didn't put it in the best way," Rose said softly, "but I do need to know how much you're going to be here for me. I'm not… I'm not trying to pressurise you or anything- I want you to know that. I just want to know how much you're going to… put in. To this."

The Doctor looked momentarily confused. "Rose, you know I want to stay with you. I'll look after this child with you." His voice betrayed what he was really feeling, and Rose's face fell.

"But?" she prompted.

"But… I don't know. We haven't known each other that long, and I… I don't want to settle down."

Rose nodded. "We'll travel, then. It doesn't matter that I'm pregnant. We can still travel and have our adventures and-"

"_No_, Rose," Jackie hissed from behind her. "That's not healthy, for you or the baby. You'll start to feel symptoms and you'll be exhausted all the time, and your baby might-"

"Mum," Rose said, her voice angry. She addressed the Doctor, "So you'll stay with me?" He nodded, once. "No matter what?" He hesitated a little, and then nodded. She hugged him and he hugged her back. Jackie shivered as the Doctor looked at her over her daughter's shoulder.

The two of them broke apart and the Doctor smiled at Rose, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I… could you sleep here, tonight? I just need a bit of time on my own. With the TARDIS."

Rose was hurt. Didn't he want her there? "Time on your own?" she repeated, miserably.

"Yeah. Just to… think about things. You know? Just to think." Rose could see that he really did need thinking time, so she nodded.

"'Course. Yeah, of course." She smiled and hugged him again, squeezing herself tightly against him. "I don't mind."

x

Rose lay awake in the early hours of the morning. She'd only just woken up, having slept a little, but it had been difficult to sleep whilst she was turning things over and over in her mind. She was cold without his arms around her, and it was odd not to be sleeping on the TARDIS, with its comforting hum soothing her as she slept.

She had decided to tell the Doctor about his other self today. Because he had promised to stay with her no matter what happened, and she took him at his word. He wouldn't lie to her, because he was the Doctor, and he told the truth, no matter how rude he was being.

She smiled as she thought of the life that they were going to have together. And what a life it would be. They had a child on the way- unexpected, perhaps, but still- a child. She loved him, he loved her, and soon their love would be united for their little one. She was excited as well as a little apprehensive, her raging emotions coming to the fore.

The door banged open and Rose jumped, sitting bolt upright. It was Jackie, and her expression was less than kind. "How long have you been up?" she asked breathlessly.

"I don't know," Rose said, confused, "five or ten minutes? Why, Mum? What's wrong?"

Jackie left the room, leaving Rose no choice but to get up and follow her. She felt a bit queasy, but padded along the corridor with her mother, following her downstairs and into the kitchen, from where she could see into the garden.

She clutched at the back of the chair to steady herself, having almost fallen over. She stared, almost unseeingly, at the fence at the bottom of the garden.

The TARDIS was gone.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Once Rose had been settled in the chair she had been leaning on for support, Jackie bustled about the kitchen making hot chocolate. There was silence except for the banging of cupboards, the clinking of metal on metal and the microwave slowly heating the milk. Rose watched her cup go around and around, transfixed.

When it was done, Jackie placed the mug in front of her daughter and sat opposite her, plastering an affectionate, motherly look on her face that clearly said she was sorry that the alternate version of that man had ever turned up in their lives.

Rose barely sipped her drink. It wasn't as if she didn't appreciate her mother's efforts- no, that wasn't it. However, she did know that she felt so down about the drink because Jackie only ever made hot chocolate for her when she'd had a particularly traumatic break-up in which lots of tears were shed (some of them not Rose's own), or when she'd been dumped by a boyfriend. Rose didn't feel- couldn't feel- that this was one of those times.

"How did you find out?" Rose asked quietly, shivering a little.

Jackie immediately stood up and left the room, coming back about half a minute later with a fleece in her hand. She slipped it around Rose's shoulders and sat back down, her chin resting in one of her hands. "I just got up to go to the loo. It's the tea I drank last night- always makes me need the toilet at Godforsaken hours. The caffeine in it, I mean." Rose gave Jackie a look. "Right. Anyway. So I got up and went to the bathroom- next thing I know the sound of his stupid machine is ringing in my ears. So I ran to the kitchen and-" she shrugged her shoulders "-nothing. Nothing at all."

Rose shook her head, looking up towards the ceiling. Her mother could tell that she was trying desperately not to cry. It was like the time when the Doctor- the first Doctor, that was- had just regenerated and Rose had talked about how she thought she knew him. Jackie had felt awful for her daughter at that moment, but they'd seemed to hit it off brilliantly, which had been good. Hadn't it?

"Rose," Jackie said softly. Rose looked at her, attempting to blink away the tears in her eyes and only succeeding in allowing a few to slide down her cheeks. "I know it's hard, but you can't get all upset about this. Not at this time. You have to think of the baby now."

"His baby," Rose said, her voice blunt.

"Yes, love. His baby. And you have to think of yourself as well. Your Doctor wouldn't have wanted you to feel this way, would he?"

"How am I supposed to know how he would have wanted me to feel?" Rose asked bitterly, her voice wavering constantly. "I'm pregnant, aren't I? I'm bloody pregnant with _his _bloody baby and I can't-" she broke off for a moment, to sob "-I can't go back to the first one even if he found a way to get to me, even if I wanted to. Because I'm pregnant with the baby of an alien who looks like someone I formerly loved, and oh did I forget to mention that he ran off without me?"

"Rose-"

"And who am I to refer to them as 'the first Doctor' and 'the second Doctor' and 'this one' and 'that one'? It's not fair! It's not! If I had a boyfriend called John and I broke up with him and then went out with another guy called John, I wouldn't call them John One and John Two, would I?"

"I don't know. Are you still in love with the first John?"

Rose stared at her mother.

"Okay, okay," Jackie said, with a sigh. "Look, love, I know this is difficult, I really do. Raising a baby on your own is not easy, and you know I know that! This is a very confusing time for you, because they do look the same and I can imagine that you feel guilty love, I really can-"

"Yeah, but you're not living it, are you?"

"No, Rose. No I'm not. But I'm living with someone who's living it, and that someone happens to be my daughter. I won't stop until that someone's happy, whatever it takes." Jackie reached forward and patted Rose's hand. "All right?"

Rose looked at her mother, tearfully. "Why did he leave?" she asked, in a small voice.

"I don't know, love. I wouldn't have if I were him." Jackie hesitated, nudging the mug of hot chocolate closer to Rose, who picked it up and drank it greedily, now it was cooler. "Do you think he's going to come back?"

Rose set down her drink. "What?"

"Do you think he's going to come back?" Jackie repeated.

"Why?"

"You know how silly he is. Maybe he only meant to be gone for about a second, but left it longer than that, because… he's silly. And that ship of his is silly. And he doesn't notice things right in front of him, like… ooh, your beauty?" Rose smiled slightly, and Jackie went on, "So what do you think? Do you think he's going to come back?"

Rose shrugged. "I don't know." Pause. "See the thing is, Mum… he opened up to me. He told me what Torchwood did to him. And I don't mean just told me what they did, I mean he told me exactly what they did. Like… how they blindfolded him and stuff. And you don't just open up to people about how vulnerable you were unless you want to stay with them for a really long time, do you? I mean, I'd feel really embarrassed if I'd let that happen to me and I probably wouldn't tell… well, anyone. I don't know. But… it's just like…" She trailed off, heaving a frustrated sigh. "And I loved him, Mum. I did. And he said he loved me too, and I believed him, because… I know when he's hiding something, or lying, or… but he's gone now. Why?"

"You're going to have a child with him, Rose," Jackie said patiently. "Do you remember what your first Doctor was like? I mean your first, _first_ Doctor? Before the change? The rudest man on earth?"

Rose giggled. "Yeah."

"He was so afraid of anything even vaguely domestic. He wouldn't even have shepherds pie with us, for goodness sake! And of course the Doctor- I mean the second one- is going to be scared. Forget scared- he's going to be _petrified_. You heard him, he doesn't want to settle down-"

"But does that mean he doesn't even want to have this child with me?" Rose interrupted.

"I don't know," Jackie said softly, taking Rose's hands in hers, "but I promise you, Rose, that we will always be behind you. Me, Pete, June, Mickey, all of us. Whatever you decide to do, whenever you decide to do it, we'll support your decision. Money isn't an issue, we've got heaps of that and you know it. This baby is always going to be provided for and when the Doctor comes back, he'll see what he missed out on."

"When?"

"When." Jackie smiled at her daughter. "He's going to come back, Rose. I can just feel it. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you're my daughter. And if both versions of him are head over heels for you, then you've got something going for you. And that something is beauty, and wit, and intelligence, and just about everything anyone could wish for. He'll be back, you'll see." Rose sniffed, smiling at her mother. "Now, you. Off to bed. You've got to keep your strength up for this baby! You're going to be a mother, Rose, and that means no shirking of your responsibilities."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

_One Month Later_

"Rose. Rose! Roo-ose. Rose. Rosee-e. Rose, I am so fed up of calling your name. If you don't get out of bed right now I'll pull off the covers and throw them out of the bloody window. And that means you won't get to have them tonight, because they'll be covered in mud and I won't be able to wash them by the time you decide to collapse into bed. Now get up!"

Rose peered blearily at Jackie before grumbling and climbing out of bed. She took a shower in the en suite and dressed into clothes that she would normally go to work in. She then walked into the kitchen, poured herself some cereal, and ate it within a few minutes.

Jackie entered the room a few seconds after she'd finished, looking confusedly at her daughter. "What're you wearing those clothes for?"

Rose looked at her mother blankly as she put her bowl and spoon into the dishwasher. "What do you think I'm wearing these clothes for?"

"You're not going into work?" Jackie exclaimed.

"Yeah." Rose grinned.

"You're _two months pregnant_!" Jackie spluttered, clearly horrified.

"Calm down, Mum," Rose said, laughing slightly. "Loads of mums-to-be work right up until they give birth. It's a way of keeping active, and in case you haven't noticed, I'm incredibly bored, stuck here." She raised her eyebrows at her mother's look of absolute horror. "It's fine, honestly."

"But Torchwood is so _dangerous_," Jackie whined.

"Look, I'm sure Pete will give me a desk job for seven months. I'm not going to run about chasing Weevils, all right? That would just be stupid."

Jackie looked even more panicked. "But you'll be bored with a desk job!"

"You are _never_ happy," Rose sighed. "You should be pleased it only took me a month to get out of bed and do something as opposed to something like six months, like last time."

"Yeah, but you're pregnant this time."

"Yeah, but Dr Shepard said it was _fine_," Rose stressed. "Don't worry, I checked with her. I'm hardly showing!"

"But you are showing."

"Hardly." Rose rubbed her belly for emphasis. "Look, I'll call you if I'm feeling faint, nauseous, have a headache… tell you what, I'll call you if I stub my toe. Would _that_ make you happy?"

Jackie looked reproachful but nodded. Rose smiled, thanked her, kissed her on the cheek and then left for work, taking her car. She was late- very late- but she reasoned that Pete wouldn't mind. It was unfair of him to mind, since he was the one who'd told to her to take as much time off as she needed.

So far, he'd restrained himself from saying, 'I told you so!' Rose was grateful for this, because it had been hard enough to get over the fact that the second Doctor had left her and hadn't come back without him being all smug about it. She knew that if he did come back, though, Pete wouldn't have a say in what happened to him. She'd decided that if the Doctor had a good enough reason for running off, she wouldn't send him in for vivisection. Okay- that was a bit nasty. She wasn't sure that she'd send him in for vivisection if he had left her because he'd only wanted to impregnate her and then leave. After all, he was sort of a part of her life now. Actually, he was definitely a part of her life now. No two ways about it.

She parked the car in her usual parking space, which Pete had evidently kept free. When she walked into the building, she suddenly felt more at home then she had been for… ooh, about a month. This was her distraction, and she was incredibly glad of it.

She headed to her office immediately and was surprised to see that the light was on. It hadn't been reallocated, had it? She checked the name on the door. 'Rose Tyler', it said. She frowned and turned the handle, stepping into the room.

She was greeted by the sight of Kenny rifling through her papers. He looked a little dishevelled, and she raised her eyebrows at him. "Hello, Kenny."

He jumped and looked at her, grinning. "Rose!" He launched himself over the desk and enveloped her in what would have normally been a bone-crushing hug. Clearly, he knew that she was pregnant; otherwise he would have picked her up and danced her around the room. As it was, he released her. "How are you, chick? I haven't seen you for ages!"

Rose smiled at him. "I'm fine thanks, Ken. What are you looking for?"

"Nothing anymore. _You_ can look for it. Rose, for God's sake, tidy your desk. It's like a bloody bombsite in here."

Rose sighed. "Something tells me that I'm going to have to. I doubt Pete will let me out into the field now."

"Yeah," Kenny said, screwing up his face and subconsciously glancing at Rose's stomach. "I heard about that. How is… the baby?"

"Fine," Rose said, smiling widely. She patted her belly gently as she moved around the desk and pushed some papers onto the floor, clearing a space in the middle.

"What do you know, the desk's made of pine," Kenny joked. Rose laughed sarcastically and Kenny folded his arms. "Anyway, I was looking for the form we filled out on that Weevil ages ago now. Before the Doctor turned up and all that."

"How much do you know about me and the Doctor, Ken? Actually, how much does everyone at Torchwood know about me and the Doctor?"

Kenny grinned sheepishly. "That you busted him out using Mickey's key card. And honestly, Rose, if that's how you feel about him then good on you. I heard that he left though." Kenny pulled a face. "Don't worry, Rose. He'll be back. I would be, if I were him."

Rose smiled at him. "Thanks. I'll look for that, shall I? Can you tell Pete that I'm here, and I'd quite like something to do if he can find me something. Paperwork, or… anything, really."

"You've been bored staying at home, haven't you?" Kenny asked with a fleeting grin.

"How could you tell?" Rose asked, with a laugh.

"You'd never ask for paperwork to do if you hadn't been." Kenny winked and sauntered to the door. "I'll just be telling Pete then. What about Mickey?"

Rose shrugged. "Yeah, you can tell Mickey. Try to make out that I'm very busy, though, and can't be disturbed at all."

"Like he'll swallow that," Kenny scoffed. "I'll see you soon, Rose. Bring that form to me once you've found it, yeah? And… tidy your desk."

Rose saluted him and he left the room, shutting it behind him. She looked at her desk and began the long task of sorting the papers.

x

"Hey, Rose. I didn't think you'd be in so soon," Pete said, as he stepped into her office and shut the door behind him. He was carrying a thick wad of papers, and his mouth fell open as he took in the sight of Rose's tidy desk, completely clear of clutter except for one piece of paper.

Rose grinned. "Do you like it? I tidied up. Reckon I need a space to work, now. You're not going to let me out of the building, are you?" She eyed the papers he was carrying warily.

"Forget the building, Rose, you're not allowed out of the office!" Pete said. He set the papers down and smiled at his adopted daughter. "Kenny said that you wanted paperwork, so here's your paperwork. If you get bored, just stop and I'll give it to Mickey."

Rose laughed at that, pulling the paperwork towards her. "Thanks," she said sincerely, and Pete nodded and left the room. Rose followed after him, taking the lift upstairs to Kenny's office. She got so many odd looks as she went that she almost wished she hadn't come into work. But only almost, because she was Rose Tyler, and she wasn't about to be scared away by a few stares.

She knocked on the door of Kenny's office and walked inside when he told her to. He was sitting behind his own desk, his head poking out from the top of his laptop. She handed him the piece of paper that she had taken from her desk.

"Wow, thank you. How did you find it?" he asked.

"My desk is so tidy now, you wouldn't believe it."

Kenny grinned. "I'll believe it when I see it." He stood up, the paper in his hand, and waved it in her face. "Do you want to come down into the cells with me? I've got to check the number of the one that the Weevil's in."

Rose grimaced. "No thanks, Ken. I'd rather not."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Hey, I did find something for you, though." He set the paper down and rummaged around his laptop, finally extracting a leaflet from underneath a couple of pages of file paper with his messy scrawl all over it. He held the leaflet out to her, and she took it.

"Pregnancy exercises?" she said, her face set. She was determinedly trying not to laugh.

"Yeah. For the baby. It's good to keep fit during pregnancy, I just thought that maybe we could go together. I mean, not together, together, just together. As friends. Because you need someone to come with you and I can't really imagine Pete doing pregnancy exercises." Was he blushing? Rose didn't reply, biting down on her tongue. "I mean, we don't have to. I just thought-"

Rose couldn't contain herself any longer; she simply burst out laughing. "Oh, Kenny!" she said, half laughing, half crying. "That's the sweetest thing! I'd love to come and do pregnancy exercises with you. What is it, a class?"

Kenny nodded, looking relieved. "Yep, it's a class, with a professional… pregnancy exercise… teacher teaching us."

Rose couldn't help giggling still. "Sorry, Ken. I did my best to stop laughing… it's just the thought of you being pregnant." Kenny frowned. "Don't worry. I'll forget it soon. Maybe."

He smiled at her and she smiled back, glad that she'd come back to work.


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Thank you so much for all of your wonderful kind words regarding this story. I'm really glad you're enjoying it as much as I am revisiting it :-)_**  
**

**Chapter 18**

The next evening, Rose found herself filing into a little room with Kenny, two other mums-to-be and their partners. None of them had really got chatting, it was strictly couples at the moment. Well, sort of.

Rose was wearing a loose fitting tracksuit with her hair tied up in a high ponytail. Kenny looked hilarious in loose clothes. She'd only ever seen him in his work jeans and work t-shirts, as she'd never really gone out with him other than at work. Maybe she should start rectifying that, she thought. They got on quite well.

It was obvious when the teacher was in the room. Everyone fell silent and watched her. She was about fifty, give or take a few years, with greying hair. She looked so in shape that Rose was astounded, because at her age, Rose hadn't thought of anybody being that thin! Maybe pregnancy exercises were the way to go.

"Right, everyone here?" she asked brightly. Not waiting for an answer, she continued, "Excellent! I'm Ruth." Not one to delay, Ruth carried on, "We're going to start with some abdominal exercises that you can do on your own at home if the desire takes you. Now, the abdominal muscles support your spine. You'll likely experience a bad back whilst pregnant; if not now, you might well later because of the size and weight of your growing baby. It's important to keep the muscles strong, so everyone face me. That's it. Now, breathe out, and in… and out, and in… and whilst breathing out this time, tuck your belly in, bringing your bellybutton towards your spine. That's it! Now, hold it…"

Rose struggled. She glanced over at Kenny, who looked so concentrated that she burst out laughing. "What's your name, dear?" Ruth asked.

"Rose," Rose giggled.

"All right, Rose. Try and concentrate. Now, count with me. One, two, three…"

They did a few more exercises, some to do with the pelvis, the ribcage, lying on their backs and partner based ones. One couple arrived late, and Rose was exhausted by the time they had all finished exercising. She and Kenny were about to leave the room when Ruth told them all to get a chair and arrange themselves into a circle. Giving each other intrigued looks, Rose and Kenny obliged.

"Right!" Ruth said, clapping her hands together and then mopping her sweaty brow with a handkerchief that had seemingly appeared from nowhere. She replaced it up her sleeve, and continued, "Now, since this is the first session, we should really get to know each other."

Clearly, Kenny had neglected to tell her that although this was indeed primarily a group for those who wanted to do pregnancy exercises, there was also discussion about relationships, pregnancy, the baby, nutrition and just about anything else Rose could have ever wanted to know. She smiled at her friend gratefully as people began to introduce themselves.

There was Brad and Harriet, who had been together for several years now and had planned their first baby. Frankie and Karishma were next, a couple who had split up and got back together so many times that Rose found it quite difficult to count them as they were related. Justin and Danielle were the penultimate pair, both of whom looked about twenty years old and had definitely not planned their child.

As it happened, Rose and Kenny were last. Since Rose had been unable to do quite a few of the exercises, Ruth had quickly learned her name and gave her a smile as she said, "Rose, your turn."

Rose stood up and Kenny climbed to his feet beside her. "Hi," Rose said, quite quietly and nervously, her confidence boosting as the group responded with a greeting. "Um, my name's Rose." She neglected to mention her surname, as then the cries of, 'You're Pete Tyler's daughter!' would commence, and she didn't really want to be so associated with him that she wasn't considered her own person.

She cleared her throat and looked over at Kenny, who spoke next. "I'm Kenny."

"I'm about two months pregnant," Rose said, after a pause. "It's sort of hard to be sure of weeks and days because I don't know exactly when my baby was conceived. Um…" She looked over at Ruth for help.

"Tell us a little about yourself, Rose. About your baby, what you want for him, or her," she prompted.

Rose nodded. "Right, yeah. I'm twenty-" She stopped, realising that there was something important that she hadn't mentioned. "Um, Kenny isn't my partner. He's my friend. And he's not the father of my baby either. His or her daddy…" She gave a watery smile. "Well, he left me."

There was a collective gasp around the group. Clearly these were all couples who had never really had huge relationship problems in their life, and the thought of a man leaving a woman pregnant with his baby was a shock. Rose had been shocked at first, too.

"He didn't _leave _me, leave me," she explained quickly. "He went travelling. He said he'd come back, and I believe him. It's only been a month. He's a bit…" She trailed off dreamily. "He can be a bit silly sometimes. Gets his dates messed up, stuff like that. Probably didn't mean to be away even this long. Don't blame him, though, the baby wasn't exactly planned." She stopped, looking at Kenny, who smiled encouragingly. She was ever so glad he was here, and she let him know that by grasping his hand briefly and then releasing it.

"Go on, Rose," Ruth said.

"Yeah, anyway. I'm twenty-two and I work at Torchwood. Only got a desk job at the moment, though, because of… well, this little one. And my dad is the head of Torchwood so like he's going to let me go out into the field." She grinned and looked at the faces around her. Some were shocked, surprised that someone of her age- not to mention, a girl- would be working somewhere as impressive as Torchwood.

Then Frankie said, "Oh, you're Pete Tyler's daughter."

Rose sighed and nodded, still smiling. "That's the one." She thought of what to say next and settled on something that Harriet had mentioned. "I think that if I could find out the gender of the baby, I wouldn't want to know. I think it'll be more fun poring over thousands of baby names with the Doctor- that's the father- because he'll get so frustrated, and I can see that making me happy if nothing else will, what with the raging hormones."

A scattering of laughter. Rose beamed, glad that she was making a good impression. "Yeah, so that's me. Oh, and Kenny works with me at Torchwood. He actually suggested I come to this class, and I'm really glad I did."

And she was. Glad that she'd got most things off her chest, and glad that she had a good friend to support her. Sometimes telling things to complete strangers was the best therapy there was. She sat down and Kenny followed her lead.

Ruth said, "Thank you, Rose! Right then, that's the end of this week's session. I hope to see you all back next week for more. Don't forget," she added, as people climbed to their feet, "to carry on doing the exercises I've taught you over the next week. It's essential to maintain the health of your baby!"

Thanking Ruth as they left, Kenny and Rose stepped from the building. Kenny drove her home and she didn't even bother to change as she collapsed onto the sofa and Jackie brought her a glass of water.

"How was it?" Jackie asked. "Was I right?"

Jackie had been complaining about how Rose was doing too much physical activity. What with going into work during the day and now these sessions in the evenings, Rose's mum just thought that she was going to work herself to death.

"It was really good actually," Rose said happily, downing her water in a gulp. "It's a discussion group as well as a pregnancy exercise class. I feel so much better."

Jackie clicked her tongue. "All right, all right. But honestly, Rose, I think you're doing too much. I mean, work is bad enough but these classes in the evening-"

"They're only once a week!" Rose protested. "You're meant to do exercise four times a week when you're pregnant."

"Did Dr Shepard say that?"

"Yes, she did!"

Jackie sighed. "Far be it from me to argue with the great Dr Shepard," she huffed, plumping up the cushions behind Rose.

It was then that they both froze, the sound of the universe filling their ears.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Rose looked up as the Doctor walked in. She'd sucked in breath only moments before he had stepped over the threshold, and she was relying on that to keep her emotions in check. Being angry, upset and, most importantly, hormonal, she couldn't see that happening.

She climbed to her feet and faced him. He looked at her, and she studied his face. He was different somehow, darker, less open, less honest, less innocent. She already missed that in him, and she'd only been standing opposite him for a few seconds.

She could tell immediately which one he was. It was like having identical twins; you could tell them apart by their cries as children, except Rose could tell this Doctor apart from that Doctor by his mannerisms.

She was painfully aware of how silly she looked. Kitted up in a baggy tracksuit, hair all over the place and face probably quite sweaty, she didn't really feel particularly good-looking, which was frustrating, because she wanted to show him what he'd missed. She really did.

"Hello," he said.

"Hello," she replied. She didn't smile, didn't give him any indication that he had really, really hurt her. Her voice was monotonous and he shifted from foot to foot underneath her gaze.

"Are you angry with me?" he asked, mirroring the question she'd asked when they'd first found out about her pregnancy.

She didn't give the same reply; in fact, she barely managed to stop herself from scoffing at him. Of course she was angry with him- and he was meant to be the one with a superior intelligence. She glared in response, fearing that any words she spoke would have her breaking down.

"I can understand if you are," he went on quietly. "I mean, I think I'd be angry too."

"Do you reckon?" Rose burst out bitterly. She then looked away, swallowing as she blinked to rid the tears from her eyes.

"Yeah. I do." Silence. "Can I explain?"

"If you must."

_Of course you can explain. Please explain why you left me._

The Doctor stepped forward and stood in front of the armchair. He looked as though he was going to sit down, but Rose gave him a look that was full of so much malice that clearly he didn't dare. She stepped away from him, standing in front of the sofa opposite him, and waited for him to speak.

"I was scared," he said gently. "I hadn't thought about being a father, not really. And the thought of having to… to look after a child… being tied down like that…" He shook his head, and even had the nerve to laugh a little. "It terrifies me, Rose."

Rose looked at him in disbelief. "Right. So that means you can what, just leave when you feel like it and come back when you please? That's all right with you, is it? Whilst I'm stuck here, day in, day out, this baby growing inside me, unable to do anything. But the Doctor, he can go gallivanting off whenever and wherever he wants, damn the consequences." The Doctor opened his mouth, but Rose shouted, "No- shut up! Let me talk! You know what you put me through? Hell. Absolute hell. I didn't know if you were coming back, if you hated me, or what! You said you'd open up to me, that you'd talk to me- but you didn't! You just _ran_! If you run from everything like you ran from this then I don't even want anything to do with you, and neither will my child-"

"Right!" the Doctor bellowed, startling Rose and halting her train of thought. Then he continued, in a calm and even voice, "So you want me to open up to you, do you Rose?"

"Yes!" Rose said, exasperated.

"Why?"

"Because that's what couples are_ meant_ to do. We're meant to talk, Doctor! Not… not hide things from each other."

"Oh. So the alternate version of me that you fell in love with first- you don't consider not telling me about him as hiding something from me?" the Doctor spat, his tone bitter.

There was a stunned silence as Rose tried not to faint with this revelation, that he'd known for God knew how long about the Doctor. The first one.

"How long have you known?" she gasped finally.

The Doctor shrugged, rubbing the back of his head, his anger and bitterness gone to be replaced by… understanding? "Time travel's confusing, isn't it?" he said, clearly not quite sure himself. "A while."

"Why didn't you _say_ anything?"

He shrugged again, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "I wanted you to tell me yourself. But you didn't, and you wouldn't. And you haven't." Rose looked away, unable to meet his plain gaze. "It's okay, Rose. I don't blame you. It's not a great conversation starter, is it?"

"No," Rose said. "How did you…?" She trailed off, leaving the question in the air.

He pulled out a pair of glasses from his trousers, putting them on. They were the same red and blue three-dimensional ones that her first Doctor had used the last time they'd been able to touch each other, the last time they were really together. Well, not the exact same ones. But the same type.

"You can see," she whispered.

"I can see," he agreed, replacing his hands into his pockets. He looked so comical standing there with them on, but it reminded Rose of such an incredible moment in her life that it was all she could do to stop herself from collapsing, in hysterics (and that was tears, not laughter). She stood, mute. "'Course, I didn't just put them on and stare at you through them out of the blue. I heard arguments between you and your mum, guessed it from my time at Torchwood and your reaction to first meeting me. From how you said, 'You're not one hundred and six!'" He did quite a good imitation of her, she managed to think. "It all sort of slotted into place after a while. Especially since… well, you're quite… distinctive, in this view."

"Can I…?"

"Yeah."

Rose stepped forward and took them from his face, pushing the glasses onto her nose. There was no void stuff swirling around his person. She looked at her hand, which looked like it had when she'd last done this. Her gaze went back to him, and he smiled gently. "No, I haven't been through the void. It's not that easy. Not since…" He trailed off.

"Since the Time War," Rose finished for him.

There was a pause as Rose took the glasses off and held them out to him. He accepted them and tucked them into his inside pocket. "Rose, just how much do you know about me?" he asked.

"Not much," she said, with a smile. He raised an eyebrow. "No, really. Not much. See the thing is, Doctor, you may look the same as the man I loved- love. You may have the same sort of life, you may be a Time Lord just like him, an alien with two hearts, but you're just not him. Maybe when we first met, I mixed you up, and yeah, that was wrong. I did want to get to know you because of… well, him. At first, I thought you could be him."

She sat down on the sofa, and tentatively he came and sat next to her. He took her hands in his and kissed her softly on the cheek. It was the first honest gesture that they'd had together, and it had her clinging to him almost desperately, wrapping her arms around him and speaking from his chest.

"It's like… it's like loving two people. I mean, not fancying them because that's just having a silly crush. I mean it's like really loving two people. And it doesn't matter if they look the same. I've seen enough in my lifetime to become accepting of that kind of thing. I did kind of latch onto you because you looked like him, and I missed him- still do. But you're your own person. I can't compare you, though I thought I could. I can't because for all you're the same, you're so, so different. He was… he was older, more experienced. He'd seen too much and he was scared, scared of being with me because he thought he was going to lose me. And… he did."

She paused, looking up at the Doctor briefly before dipping her gaze again, nuzzling into his chest. "Wasn't his fault, mind. Mine as much as anyone's, because I built up his hopes and couldn't hold on. And no, I don't expect you to understand that. Maybe one day you will, Doctor, but not today. Because I can't bear telling anyone about it. I haven't even told Mum. And it's not like I don't respect you, or trust you, or love you, I just can't. Because…"

She took in a deep breath and detached herself from him, shuffling away and looking him in the eyes. She felt she needed to, for this explanation. "I couldn't remember it. After I said goodbye to him for the last time, my brain completely blocked it. It took ages for the memory to come back. I went to a Torchwood therapist and everything. And when I did remember, I didn't tell anyone. Because it felt like I was insulting him, you know? That I'd forgotten what he remembered. God, I don't even know if he cared, or even thinks about me now."

"If he thinks about you half as much as I thought about you when I was gone, then the man is obsessed. And he sounds obsessed. Who wouldn't be?" She smiled and there was a pause. "You've rehearsed this speech, haven't you?"

"Yeah. Realised while you were gone. I never thought I'd say it, but thank you for going."

"Seems like it was a good idea for both of us. My turn, now." He reached forwards and took her hands again, linking his fingers with hers. "Rose, I love you. I loved you even when I knew that you were in love with this other guy. And maybe I can't match up to myself, Rose, but I want to try. You're beautiful, and you're funny, and you're the person I want to be with. I'm excited because this baby is on the way, and I love him or her or it or whatever gender it chooses to be already, because it's a part of you and it's a part of me. And nothing- _nothing_- can take that away from us."

She continued to look at him, her eyes swimming with tears.

"And I'm sorry," he added. "I never meant to be away for this long. I just wanted to clear my head and I… lost track of time. Well, the TARDIS, she…" Another pause came along as Rose wiped her eyes. "How far along are you?"

"Almost two months, I think. I can't really be sure. Spent the first few weeks of it in a time machine, didn't I?"

The Doctor nodded, and then wiggled one of his hands out from their grip, stroking her cheek with his fingers. "Um, there was another reason that I left." His demeanour had changed; part of him seemed as though what he was about to say was a big joke, but the other part spoke of embarrassment. Rose frowned. "I didn't want to, um… suffer from the…" He paused, steeling himself. "I didn't want to have a sympathetic pregnancy," he muttered.

"A what?" Rose exclaimed. Tears weren't threatening anymore; it was laughter, now.

"A sympathetic pregnancy. It's called the couvades syndrome. It's a psychosomatic condition that means that the partners or fathers of the pregnant woman experience… backache. And… vomiting. And… weight gain. And…" He stopped at the look on her face. She looked like she was going to explode with mirth. "'S not that funny," he mumbled, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh, yes, yes it is," she said, clutching at the hand that was stroking her cheek and pressing it to her face. "Look, Doctor, if you have a pregnancy-"

"A sympathetic pregnancy. Please don't call it a pregnancy, it leaves scarring mental images."

"If you have a_ sympathetic_ pregnancy," Rose corrected herself, "you can blame me. I don't mind."

The Doctor couldn't help grinning at the fact that despite his mistake, that he thought was massive at the time, she had forgiven him. She loved him. As he loved her. "Thanks." And he didn't just mean because he was allowed to blame her for any weight he might gain from this point on.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Pete had gone mad.

It wasn't as if Rose hadn't expected it; after all, her adopted father had arrested and tortured this version of the Doctor before, but he had gone really, _really_ mad.

He had arrived home late- very late, later than Rose had, even with her pregnancy exercise session- and had only, therefore, found out about the Doctor's return when he wandered into the living room.

He had his phone halfway to his ear and was about to press the green button in order to bring Torchwood running when Rose had snatched it off him, backing off towards the Doctor, who looked more than a little panicked by this point.

"Rose, give me the phone," Pete said quietly.

"I'm too tired to fight you on this, Pete," Rose said wearily. "It's not good for the baby. Just let it go." She pressed the red button, deleting the number which he had keyed in at a very fast pace.

"He left you, Rose," Pete snarled, glaring at the Doctor, who did not shrink back from his gaze as he had done in the past. Instead, he straightened and sought Rose's hand. She willingly allowed him to take it, in return wrapping her fingers around his skin.

"Yes. And he came back."

"But he still left you."

"And then he came back." Pete looked as though he was going to argue some more, but Rose cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Please, Pete, I'm serious. I don't want this to turn into an argument because I'm tired and really can't deal with this right now."

Pete held his hand out for his phone silently, and Rose put it into his palm with her free hand. He shot one last glare at the Doctor before turning on his heel and stalking from the room. Rose wormed her hand from the Doctor's and collapsed onto the sofa, her hand on her forehead. He sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and letting his fingers come to rest lightly on her abdomen.

"Sorry," Rose said, her breathing heavy.

"That's okay."

"Look, I'm really tired." She picked up his hand and unwound it from around her, dumping it into his lap. "I think I might just go to bed." She stood and he did the same.

"Okay. Do you want to sleep on the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"No, thanks." Realising how sharp she'd sounded, she added, "I mean… I'm sort of used to my bed at home now. It's been a month after all." The last six words were barely audible, but the Doctor still heard them. He nodded. "You going to sleep on the TARDIS?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, his voice coming out deeper than usual. She quickly left the room after that, and he stared at the door long after it had shut behind her.

x

Rose wasn't surprised when the Doctor mooched into the kitchen the next day, dragging his heels and looking extraordinarily sorry for himself. He sat down at the table and rested his hands upon the surface, his eyes downcast.

"Hello!" she said brightly, giving him what she believed to be a winning smile. "How did you sleep?"

"I didn't," he said, looking up at her. He looked so morose that her heart heaved.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night, okay? I was just really stressed out, and I really do feel genuinely bad about it. I did snap, didn't I?"

"You did a bit."

"Here." She shoved her bowl of cereal towards him. "Have some. I bet you haven't eaten either, have you?" He shook his head and took a spoonful, chewing it before swallowing. She smiled indulgently. "Silly Time Lord. Now, there was something I wanted to talk to you about." She pulled her bowl back towards her and finished it off. "I work with this guy at Torchwood. His name is Kenny."

"Yeah, we met."

Rose blinked, and then remembered. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. Okay, well that was Kenny. And he found these pregnancy exercise classes for me to join in with. I went to the first one last night, which is why I was all kitted up in tracksuit trousers and probably stank of something… not that great."

"You didn't. You looked beautiful, Rose."

Rose smiled at him and covered his hand with her own. "Anyway… I'm going into work today and if you want, I can ask Kenny whether you can come along to the classes. I'm sure he won't mind."

"You're going into work?" The Doctor frowned. "Why?"

"I'm not going to stop working just because I'm pregnant. Loads of people work until they're about to give birth, and it's not like I have to be on my feet for ages or run around. Pete's given me a desk job for the moment, filling in paperwork, that sort of thing," she responded.

The Doctor nodded, but his expression told Rose more than his words ever could. "So you're going to keep working for Torchwood, then?"

"Yes." He sighed and she continued, "I have a life there, Doctor. My work means a lot to me and Torchwood isn't as bad as you think. Aliens don't get treated like dirt when they're arrested." Rose paused and swallowed. "They don't get treated like you were, I promise."

He raised an eyebrow at her and she could tell that he didn't quite believe what she was telling him. "Doctor, listen to me," she tried again. "Torchwood can be ruthless. We both know that better than anyone. But it's only if… if you refuse to tell them what they need to know…" She trailed off, waiting for him to speak.

"So it was my fault?"

"No! No, God, no- Doctor, don't be stupid."

The Doctor laughed mirthlessly. "I'm being stupid now?"

"Just listen!" she insisted. "Pete was scared. He was scared about my safety, scared that you knew about my first Doctor and were only trying to get to me to get to him. Pete and I work with ruthless aliens who'll stop at nothing to get what they want on a day-to-day basis, so it's not exactly that surprising that he jumped to that conclusion when you just came waltzing into my life. And I _know_ it was a coincidence, and so does he now, but then we didn't, then he didn't, because you wouldn't talk. Can you understand that?"

The Doctor broke eye contact. "I suppose," he mumbled.

It wasn't really a good enough response, but Rose supposed that it would have to do, as she was running late for work. "Okay. Good." She stood up, grabbing her bag from beside her feet. "So I'll ask Kenny if you can come along to the classes?"

"Yeah. If… if you want me there."

Rose nodded. "Of course I want you there." She dipped her head and dropped a quick kiss on his nose. "You can do whatever you want today. I'll be back around six," she said, before sweeping from the room, her stomach doing apparent somersaults.


	21. Chapter 21

****_A/n: Sorry for the absence, I've been in the US for a couple of weeks for Christmas. Glad you're all still enjoying! :-)  
_

**Chapter 21**

"Are you making a habit of this?"

Kenny looked up, grinning. "Yeah, I thought I might as well." He was sitting at her desk, his laptop in front of him. He was tapping at the keyboard absently. "Your desk was clean, so I thought why not?"

Rose rolled her eyes and went around the desk, nudging him over and sitting down next to him on the same chair. She opened the drawer in front of her and pulled out a thick wad of papers secured with a rubber band, throwing them upon the desk.

"So why _are_ you here?" she questioned, giving him a poke. He shuffled over and Rose sat on the other half of the chair, pulling the papers towards her and untying them.

"Security's checking every office starting at the top floor and going down. I thought it'd be a while until they were going to start looking through yours, since you're on the ground floor."

Rose frowned, turning her head to observe the man beside her, whose face was also creased into a frown as he read over something he'd written. "Did they say why they're performing a search?"

He shook his head. "Torchwood stuff, you know how it is. The press and the public think they're excluded from the goings-on here, but even if you're staff you have no idea which way is up and which way is down." He turned to look at her. "Sometimes I think I should find another job."

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Another job doing what?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Teaching primary schoolchildren? Although…" He scrunched up his features, clearly thinking. "…maybe primary schoolchildren are worse than Weevils and aliens and Pete Tyler."

She laughed slightly at that. "Maybe." She stood, stretching a little. "Well I'm not getting anywhere with you taking up the chair like this. I'm going to go visit Mickey, haven't seen him for ages. You going to be all right down here?"

Kenny scratched his head. "What am I, a primary schoolchild?"

"Just getting some practice," Rose said, grinning, patting her belly. "I'll see you in a bit, yeah?"

She left the room and made her way upstairs. Mickey's office was on the floor above Kenny's, and if what Kenny had said was right, the floor on which Mickey's office was on would have already had its security check. She took the lift, not particularly desperate to climb numerous sets of stairs in her delicate condition. Oh, when it suited her to play the pregnant card, she played it. Talking of stares, she hadn't been getting that many this morning, something which made her feel pleased. Something as interesting or even more so must have occurred for them to forget recent events- or maybe the fact that she was pregnant with the baby of an alien she'd rescued from the institute just wasn't a thrilling topic of conversation any more.

She reached Mickey's floor and stepped from the lift, heading to his room and knocking on the door. Her friend's voice responded and she opened it, swinging in inwards and stepping inside.

Mickey looked up and smiled at her tiredly. He had been sorting a series of crumpled up papers on his desk. "Heya, Rose."

She frowned. "Was that security who did that, then?" she queried, nodding at the work he was going through. He nodded in response. "Have you got any idea why they're turning everyone's office upside down? I just found Kenny in my office, looking for all the world as if he owned the place."

Mickey gave a noncommittal shrug that Rose wasn't quite sure he meant. "Don't know," he responded, throwing the papers in his hand into a dishevelled pile. "By the way, are you working this afternoon?"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "I don't have to. Why?"

"Pete told me that the Doctor came back."

"Oh. Yeah. He did." There was an awkward silence for a moment, which Mickey attempted to fill by shuffling his feet from side to side and scratching his chin.

"He was so angry."

"I know."

"But he wants to make up for it, he said. He told me to ask you whether you and the Doctor would like to go shopping with him and Jackie this afternoon." Mickey cleared his throat, almost nervously. "For like… baby clothes, and that."

Rose felt exceedingly awkward in this situation. She hadn't seen Mickey since she had found out that she was pregnant, and had therefore not had a chance to tell him. Clearly, he knew. "Did Pete tell you?"

"It's not exactly a secret," Mickey mumbled, his eyes roving to her stomach. Rose didn't even bother to attempt to cover it up.

"Will you be coming shopping with us?"

Suddenly, Mickey grinned, and Rose was a little taken aback. "Do you really think I'd come, Rose, to choose baby grows for a child that was conceived in a time machine? You know I'd just choose loads of stupid stuff with stupid slogans and you'd end up sending me home in frustration. You've got the Doctor to be stupid enough for the both of us anyway. Nah, I'm going to stay here and hold the fort while you and Pete are gone."

Rose smiled gratefully. She could tell that Mickey wasn't hiding deeper emotions of lust or adoration; he didn't love her anymore- well, he did, but it didn't go beyond the realms of friendship. He had accepted that she had moved on and like it or not, she was pregnant, and there was nothing he could do about that.

"Okay. I'll go find Pete and tell him that shopping would be great."

x

Persuading the Doctor had been rather difficult, Rose had to admit. He had moaned and groaned and crossed his arms and crossed his legs and whined and scrambled under the TARDIS grating so that she wasn't able to get at him.

But she found a way. She always found a way.

She'd pretty much pulled him out by the hair, and then gifted him with such a mind-blowing kiss that he had been lost for words. She'd taken that as a, 'Yes, Rose, I would absolutely love to go shopping with your parents', and had reacted accordingly.

And here they were now. Her, him, Jackie, and Pete. Jackie was loaded down with about five bags, whereas Rose was only carrying two. She had insisted that no one offer to help her with them, despite the fact that she was pregnant, because she was quite capable enough, thank you very much. No one had dared to argue once Rose had affected her serious voice.

They'd bought four baby grows so far, one orange, one blue with several sheep on it, a pastel green one and a purple one with orange striped cats as the design. The Doctor had looked as though he was going to put up a fight when Rose had picked out the last one, and she immediately knew that this Doctor clearly shared that Doctor's opinion on cats. She had giggled and given him a kiss on the nose. He didn't really complain much after that.

They were walking through the high street now, Rose clutching her two bags in one hand and the fingers of her other one linked with the Doctor's. Although he had definitely been a bit moody with her beforehand, he'd cheered up now and all was apparently right with the world.

Suddenly, she halted, hitting her mother gently on the arm. "Mum, look at _that_!"

Jackie turned to look in the shop window, her eyes falling on the dress that Rose was observing. It was a deep black, designed to cling to curves but also a maternity dress. In fact, the whole shop was one for pregnant women, and the Doctor could tell that Rose was about to explode with excitement.

"Roseeee," he whined, and she shushed him quickly.

"Oh my God, that's _gorgeous_. Can we go in and try some things on?" She looked around hopefully at the assembled party. Jackie was nodding enthusiastically, Pete looked quite passive, and the Doctor was looking thoroughly miserable.

"How long will it take?" he asked, sullenly.

"Oh, you lazy git. Don't you want to help Rose shop for maternity clothes?" Jackie demanded. The Doctor raised an eyebrow just as Pete put his arm around the taller man and pulled him away from Rose.

"No, he's got a point," Pete said, nodding. "I think I'd like to sit this one out, too." His arm dropped and he smiled. "You two go in. The Doctor and I can have a wander."

Rose looked at the Doctor. "Is that all right?"

"We'll be all right," Pete responded for him.

Rose nodded. "Okay."

"I'll give you a bell when we're done, Pete, yeah?" Jackie said, and without further ado disappeared inside the shop. Rose followed, and the door gave a little tinkling noise twice as they went in.

Pete looked over at the Doctor and, once he was sure that the two women were fully engrossed with their task, shoved him in the small of his back, propelling him away from the shop and catching the Time Lord completely by surprise.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Rose had been in and out of so much maternity wear that she almost wished she hadn't come into the shop in the first place. But only almost. It was pretty much because a lot of changing was involved, seeing as they had to find clothes that would fit even as she grew. Rose loved some items that the shop assistant didn't perceive as practical, and although it was rare, Rose also loved some items that the shop assistant loved too.

Even Jackie had joined in, despite the fact that she wasn't even pregnant. Nothing could stop Jackie Tyler, after all. Rose didn't really mind, as the shop assistant was paying attention to her as opposed to her mother, and Jackie was only attempting to find a way to amuse herself in between the moments when Rose came out of the changing cubicles in order to ask her opinion on the clothes she was wearing.

They left after about thirty-five minutes, quite quickly considering that Rose found it difficult to change in and out of clothes when she had a baby bump. They were carrying one extra bag each and gave each other a shared womanly smirk as Jackie dug into her handbag and pulled out her mobile phone.

She found her husband's number and hit the call button, bringing the phone to her ear, with difficulty, and listening to the dialling tone. Soon it rang off with Pete's answer phone, and Jackie frowned, hanging up and replacing the item back into her handbag.

"What?" Rose asked.

"He didn't pick up the phone. He probably didn't even realise that it was ringing. Silly man. Have you got anything else that you want to do here, love? Shopping or anything? Would you like to go and get something to eat?" Rose shook her head in response, lifting one hand plus bags and scratching her nose. "How would you like to go home on the bus? It's not that far a walk and if you get tired I can carry your bags. Plus, you'll be putting on weight soon, so you'll need the exercise."

"Wasn't that long ago that you were upset about me doing exercise whilst pregnant," Rose muttered, flashing her mother a smile to show that she was joking. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind going home on the bus. What about Pete and the Doctor, though?"

Jackie shrugged, already strolling towards the bus stop. "They'll be fine. Ooh, quick Rose- that's our bus!"

The bus journey home was fine- it was even good, because people kept staring at Rose's stomach and for perhaps the first time in her life she was feeling intensely proud that she was going to be a mother. When they reached the mansion, Rose was so tired that she collapsed onto the sofa in the lounge and lay curled up immediately, almost asleep.

"Oh, Rose," Jackie giggled. "You look exhausted, love."

"Mm. I'm really tired. Must have been all that exercise that you've been desperate to stop me from doing but actually wanted me to do today."

"Are you okay?"

"Mm-hm."

"Cold?"

"A bit."

Jackie sighed. "Tell you what, you go upstairs to your bedroom and have a sleep. I think you deserve it, having come out shopping with your mum. Ooh, and I'll put the fire on down here. Would you like that? It'll at least warm the place up a bit before the heating comes on."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"All right." Jackie quickly went to the fireplace and lifted a log into it, nestling a few pieces of newspaper around it. She then lit a match and threw it onto the papers, which lit immediately. Soon the fire was crackling merrily, warming the room considerably already. Jackie then went to Rose, gave her daughter a poke, and said, "Come on, then- let's get you upstairs."

Grudgingly, Rose climbed to her feet and followed her mother up the stairs and into her bedroom, where she sat down and snuggled underneath the bedcovers. Jackie put a hand to her daughter's forehead and then kissed her skin, smiling.

Suddenly, she clapped a hand to her mouth. "June! I forgot June! Are you going to be all right on your own? I need to go and pick your sister up from her playgroup." She sighed, rubbing her face. "Oh, I'm so stupid…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Mum. I'll be fine." Rose opened her eyes and blinked blearily up at her mother. "I'm not five years old." She gave a tired smile. "I'm old enough to look after myself."

"Okay. Give us a ring if you need something, or call Pete. He might even pick up the phone if you're lucky! If the house phone rings, get it if you hear it but it doesn't matter if you don't. And those two shouldn't be long, and I'll be about twenty minutes, okay? Might be longer if June's being silly like her mother and older sister and father and oh, who am I kidding, her whole family."

"I'm going to sleep, Mum," Rose mumbled, turning over, smiling to herself at her mother's rambling.

"See you in a bit." Jackie left the room, shut the door and headed downstairs to the kitchen, where she flicked the heating on. Then, leaving the shopping bags by the kitchen bench, she headed out of the house, into the car, and drove quickly in order to pick up her youngest child.

She couldn't help worrying about Rose's sudden fatigue, but she knew that she was only being over possessive as Rose's mother. She knew that her daughter was going to be fine, and so was her grandchild.

Suddenly, her mobile phone trilled and she pulled over, sorting through her handbag to find the item in question. Once she did, she pressed the green button and put it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Jackie?" It was Pete's voice. "Where are you?"

"I'm just picking up June from playgroup," Jackie replied. "Rose is at home. We decided to take the bus because you wouldn't pick up your phone. Why, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing. I'll see you in a bit, yeah?"

"Okay. Love you."

"Bye."

Jackie hung up, throwing her phone dismissively back into her handbag before restarting the car and pulling off. She hoped that no one else would call her, because then she'd be charged extra again for being late to pick up June, as she was already pressed for time. She rather disliked the woman who ran the playgroup because the woman who ran the playgroup rather disliked her.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

The Doctor winced as his back connected painfully with the brick wall behind him. He'd allowed Pete to take him wherever he wanted to simply because if he had put up a fight, the police would have been there in less than two seconds flat and both Rose's dad and the Doctor would have been arrested and formally charged with public order offences. Not to mention that whilst running tests to check whether or not the Doctor should be charged with public intoxication too they would find more than a few anomalies.

So Pete had taken the Doctor into a decrepit alley, tightened his fist around his collar, and thrown him against the wall.

The Doctor worried about Pete. If the man thought he could pick a fight with him of all people, then he was an idiot. The sonic screwdriver was digging painfully into his chest as Pete advanced on him, his expression livid.

"Why did you leave her?" he demanded, his voice icy. The Doctor was surprised that his breath wasn't misting in front of him.

He squared his shoulders, towering over Rose's dad and affecting the deepest voice he could muster. "What's it to you?"

"She's my daughter," Pete fired back, "and I love her. And I don't want to see her hurt- ever. I will do everything in my power to prevent her from getting hurt, and if that means taking you out of the equation then so be it. On my word, you could be arrested and detained for an immeasurable amount of time."

The Doctor raised one eyebrow. When he next spoke, he sounded a little more light-hearted, but he certainly didn't feel it. "Did you hate the other version of me this much?"

Pete glared. "The other version of you always had my daughter's best interests at heart. The only times he ever left her were when she was in great danger and he was in trouble. _You_, on the other hand, only left because she was pregnant and you were too scared to bring up the child with her-"

"I'm here, aren't I?" the Doctor hissed furiously. "Of course I'm scared, but if I was a lesser man, I wouldn't be here now. I'm here to support Rose through this pregnancy, the way I should be here. Is that not enough for you?"

"It's not a secret that I don't trust you. Rose is still young and very vulnerable at the moment. She has had more than enough trouble in her life to contend with and if you're just adding to that trouble then no one wants you here. You act all innocent but you're not, are you?"

The Doctor was silent for a moment, looking Pete up and down with a livid expression on his face. "I want what's best for Rose," he said, "that's all."

"Do you remember when I had you tortured?" Silence. "Do you?" Pete almost shouted.

"I remember," the Doctor said through his teeth.

"And I told Rose that it wasn't me who authorised the torture, that Torchwood went ahead and did it without my permission?" Pete's eyes glinted. "Well, I lied. I told them to get information out of you however they could, and that involved the mind scan, the mind probe."

"The mind torture," the Doctor growled.

"Call it what you like, but I wanted answers and you weren't giving them to me. I wouldn't have hesitated even for a second to move that mental torture on to physical torture had I found out before you left that you'd supplied Torchwood with a ridiculous amount of information about the Terracotta army."

The Doctor had to try so hard not to leap forward and punch Pete, over and over again, but he didn't want to give the man any more of an incentive to have him arrested. The way he was being spoken to made his blood boil, but he forced himself to remember that this man was Rose's dad, and she may well hate him forever if he attacked him.

"You're walking on eggshells, Doctor. I've been around a lot of aliens and I can tell who's lying and who's not lying. You're pretending to be stupid. Why?"

"I'm not pretending to be stupid."

"Oh, so you really are stupid then?"

The Doctor's fists curled into balls, and suddenly he was quite unable to restrain himself. He launched himself into Pete, grabbing him around the throat and pressing him against the opposite wall. Oh, the man was getting air- not quite enough, but he could still listen. "I wanted Rose to fall in love with me, because I loved her. I love her with everything I have and nothing you can say or do is ever, _ever_ going to change that, do you understand me? Have you any idea what it's like to worry and fret and agonise over telling the person you love the truth about yourself? Have you _any _idea?" he hissed.

Pete lifted his hand and punched the Doctor, sending the taller man staggering backwards and making him release his throat. Rubbing it, Pete glared and said, "And what is the truth?"

The Doctor laughed hollowly, regaining his composure. "Do you really think I'm going to tell you?"

Suddenly, a low humming noise could be heard throughout the alley. The Doctor looked confused but Pete shook his head. "It's my phone," he said. "Ignore it."

The buzzing went on for a long time before it finally stopped. Both men were breathing heavily at this point, before Pete took a deep breath and spoke.

"You're trying to be smart with me and my family and I can tell. I am watching you very, _very_ closely. One wrong move and I swear I'll have you locked up, and you'll never be allowed to leave. I have the power to do that, and I think you know that."

The Doctor grimaced. "I'm innocent until proven guilty, aren't I? Rose won't let you lock me up if I haven't done anything."

"She won't know."

"Oh, she'll know. Rose isn't stupid. And you want to protect her from me but she's perfectly capable of making her _own _decisions. You think you can threaten me and stop me from seeing her, but you can't because she won't let you. She's not stupid, you know, she's a damn sight cleverer than you are."

This was too much for Pete. Startling the Doctor, he pushed the Time Lord- hard. The Doctor lost his balance and toppled to the floor, and before he knew any different Pete had him crushed beneath his body, and was punching every part of him that he could reach. Weakly the Doctor tried to fight back, whilst Pete punctuated every blow with the words, "I do _not_ think of my daughter as stupid!"

"No- stop," the Doctor gasped, protecting his face by making a cross shape with his arms. "Rose. You're hurting… Rose!"

And then it did stop. Tentatively, the Doctor lowered his hands to see Pete staring down at him. "What?" he demanded, his eyes flashing, his hand convulsing forward and clutching the Doctor's throat.

"Rose," the Doctor managed to say. "We have a mental link because of the baby. You're hurting Rose, too."

Pete's fingers tightened and the Doctor grimaced and struggled, his hands on Pete's arms. "You _bastard_! Does she know about this?"

"N- no!" he spluttered. "It's just… a weak link at the back of… back of her mind. Not aware, never said… I didn't mean to-"

With his free hand, Pete punched the Doctor in the face, something he wouldn't have been able to achieve without having his other hand around the Doctor's throat. The Doctor's lip began to bleed and he cringed, pulling at Pete's arm.

"You… tried to protect yourself by forcing your way into my daughter's mind-"

"It wasn't like that!"

"-you disgusting-"

"Pete! I can't- Rose, you're hurting Rose!"

Pete released the Doctor's throat and he gulped in oxygen. Respiratory bypass system or no, no one could survive long without being able to breathe, and Pete's death grip on his windpipe wasn't exactly comfortable. Pete fumbled for his phone, dialling Jackie's number.

"Hello?"

"Jackie? Where are you?"

"I'm just picking up June from playgroup. Rose is at home. We decided to take the bus because you wouldn't pick up your phone. Why, is something wrong?"

Pete glared at the Doctor, who was gingerly rubbing his neck, able to hear the whole conversation.

"No, nothing," Pete responded. "I'll see you in a bit, yeah?"

"Okay. Love you."

"Bye." Pete hung up, grabbing the Doctor's chin forcefully with his free hand. "We're going to go back to the mansion and you're going to explain exactly what you have done, trying to protect yourself because hurt you feel is hurt my daughter feels. And if she's seriously hurt because of you, you're going to make her better. And then you're going to get out of her life for good, or God help me I will break your jaw, and then if you don't agree, your neck."

"It's not that like that, Pete. If you'd just let me explain-"

Tightening his grip, Pete snarled, "I'm fed up of hearing you explain. I'm fed up of being passive because people think aliens like you should be treated with respect and dignity. I'm fed up of my family getting hurt because of me."

"Could you really hurt your daughter that much because of a lust for revenge on me? I don't even understand what I've done wrong," the Doctor struggled to say, Pete's grip on his jaw making him wince, although he was trying not to show it. "All I've ever tried to do is what's best for Rose- what's best for both of us. I don't-"

The Doctor broke off and suddenly lashed out, sending Pete sprawling backwards. The Doctor curled up just as Pete regained his balance and came closer to the Doctor with the intent of wounding him as much as possible.

"No!" the Doctor gasped, looking up at Pete. "Rose! Something's happened to Rose. She's not okay- she… she's scared, she…"

"What are you, a mystic?" Pete demanded angrily, but his eyes showed fear, and worry.

"Where did Jackie say she was?"

"Back at the house."

"We have to go there, Pete. Have to-" He stood abruptly, scrunching up his face and using the wall to pull himself to his feet. His legs would hardly support him, he was using up so much energy trying to find out what exactly was wrong with Rose.

Then Pete's hand gripped his elbow, pulling his arm around his shoulder. "Come on," Rose's dad said, his voice angry, and together they struggled from the alley, only one thing on both of their minds.

x

The Doctor had pulled himself together quickly, focusing less on finding out what was wrong with Rose and more on getting to her in time. Pete and the Doctor had legged it through the streets and to the car, throwing themselves inside. Pete drove at breakneck speed, almost crashing several times and definitely exceeding the speed limit. The Doctor didn't even care that they might be done for dangerous driving, he was so intent on reaching Rose.

The first warning signs emerged when they encountered a traffic jam very near to the mansion. Something had obviously caused it, so whilst Pete pressed down on the horn ineffectually whilst waiting for a gap so he could drive on, the Doctor tapped into Rose's mind again.

_Fear._

He reeled back, clutching a hand to his head and pushing Rose's mind from his. He wasn't helping either of them by draining himself, but at least he knew that she was still alive. Alive, but oh so very scared.

The car lurched forward and Pete took the back roads, pulling up outside the house, the house in which Rose was currently alone inside. Both men had seen what was there, and both men climbed out of the car in a surreal daze.

Flashing green lights alerted the Doctor to the problem, an obvious indicator of exactly what was going on. And when he sidestepped the metal boxes blocking his view, the Doctor could see, clear as day, precisely what was wrong with Rose.

The Tyler mansion was on fire.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

The Doctor quickly found himself roughly shoved to the side, and almost as quickly found out that Pete was his attacker.

"You alien bastard! This is all your fault! You hurt her! Anything I do to you hurts her and you-"

The Doctor backed off, his eyes flashing. "Pete!" he said, his voice furious. "Shut _up_!" He then turned on his heel and sprinted past the fire engines and fire-fighters, towards the house.

The screams of the men surrounding the house echoed in his ears, and he actually had to dodge someone who tried to stop him from entering. Pete tried to follow after the Doctor, but was held back by several fire-fighters who told him that it was too dangerous.

The Doctor, clearly a sucker for danger, was already in the hallway.

He'd had to duck in order to get inside. The beam was collapsing and looked as though it was going to fall any second. The Doctor found himself coughing a great deal as he dropped to the floor and inched forward on his hands and knees, his throat burning and his eyes watering.

"Rose!" he yelled hoarsely. "Rose!"

There was no response. He looked to his right. Although a great deal of smoke was blocking his vision, he knew that the fire had started in the lounge, because the heat coming from that room was immense. He coughed, lifted his hand to his face and covered his mouth and nose with it. He pressed forward, tears making tracks down his cheeks.

Blindly he groped for the first step of the stairs. He kept going, his hand out in front of him, his other hand still covering his face. His outstretched hand soon hit a step, and he began to climb, jumping to his feet and sprinting up the stairs. The smoke was still awful up here, but the fire hadn't been raging all that long, it seemed, and so had not yet found the wooden staircase.

"Rose!" he bellowed, his eyes stinging. He ran across to the her bedroom and noted the bed sheets that had been shoved underneath the door. Clever, clever girl. He hammered on the wood. "Rose!"

"Doctor?"

Her voice was hoarse, rasping. Above all, it sounded absolutely terrified.

"Rose! Are you okay?"

"I can't open the door! The handle's too hot, and I can't get out!"

Suddenly, a noise permeated the Doctor's ears. He looked around and saw that the fire had spread to the stairs, engulfing the wood greedily. He turned back to the door. "Are those bed sheets damp?" he asked.

"Yes."

"I need you to pick one up and open the door for me, Rose. Gather it up into a ball so that the handle is as far away from your hand as possible, do you hear me?"

He moved his trainer back as one of the bed sheets disappeared from under the door. The handle rattled and the door swung inwards. The next thing he knew, Rose had fallen into his arms, sobbing.

"Get down on the floor!" Grabbing her hand, he pulled her down with him. "Do you know if any of the rooms have a roof just outside the window? Something we could climb onto?"

"I can't… I can't…" She sounded faint. The Doctor grabbed her arm, his voice urgent.

"Rose, I need you to think for me. Tell me if there's a room like that and I'll get us both out of here."

"The room that Mum and Pete share… it has a black roof, it's…" She trailed off as the Doctor tugged her along with him, both of them crawling on their hands and knees.

"Tell me about the roof, Rose."

"It's covered in all this moss," she said, coughing a little. "I always told Mum that if there was a fire, I might not burn to death but I'd slip and break my neck from falling down a storey. Oh, God, Doctor, the baby… is everything okay? Please tell me my baby's okay…"

"I don't know," the Doctor said, rushing her across the landing and past the stairs, away from the flames. "Just keep going!" He was ultimately glad to find the door to Jackie and Pete's bedroom open, and pushed the wood slightly, heading inside. He pulled Rose over to the window. "I'm going to let go of you now, Rose. Stay on the floor, I'll be back in a second." And then he released her hand.

Rose was left in a daze, alone and so very, very scared. She fumbled around the floor, searching for the comforting presence of the Doctor, but he'd gone. She cried, if possible, even more, great sobs which erupted from her mouth and poured tears down her cheeks. "D- Doctor!" she whimpered.

"I'm here, love." His strong arms were pulling her to her feet, propelling her across the floor and over to the window which she could now see was open, clearing the smoke. She breathed in deeply, a stark contrast to how she'd been breathing before. "Can you shout?" he asked.

"I- I think so," Rose stumbled.

She saw the Doctor nod. "Listen, I want you to go first, okay? I'll be out in a second. As soon as you get out there, you yell for someone to come and get you something to jump onto. I'm going to lift you out, okay?"

"What about you?"

"I'm coming right after you." He gripped her around the waist, and she felt him kiss her hair. "You'll be okay. So will our baby. I love you, Rose," he murmured.

"I love you," she responded, just as the Doctor lifted her into the air and set her gently onto the roof outside of the window. She shrieked in surprise, grabbed the wall, and then remembered what he had said, and began to bellow for all she was worth.

It wasn't long before several fire-fighters had come around to the back of the house and had laid out a soft, spongy mattress-like thing upon which she could jump. By this time, the Doctor had climbed out of the window and had encouraged her to jump, something which she did.

She was immediately gathered into Jackie's arms, who had clearly arrived moments after Pete and the Doctor. Pete ran to her too, almost knocking the women over as he hugged them both. The Doctor landed neatly next to the hugging threesome and stood, rather awkwardly, as a few fire-fighters began to pack up the mattress-like thing and the others ran to tackle the fire which was still raging. Once the Doctor had helped the fire-fighters settle the mattress-like thing back into its set place in the van, Rose had recovered and was hugging him fervently.

He returned her embrace, kissing her on the top of her head. He pushed her away a little after a moment, looking concerned. "Let's go to the TARDIS," he said. "You need to be checked out, I want to make sure that the baby's okay-"

Pete found it fit to intervene, however. "No, you don't," he said firmly, putting an arm around Rose. "We're taking her to hospital."

"Hospital?" the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow. "In case you hadn't noticed, Pete, she's carrying a baby which is half human, half alien. You can't just take her to a hospital and hope they don't notice the double heartbeat-"

"I didn't mean a normal hospital," Pete growled. "I meant Torchwood's hospital-"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm obviously not under the illusion that a _Torchwood_ hospital would be better for an unborn, alien baby's health! Didn't get that memo- probably got lost in translation whilst I was stuck in a Torchwood prison cell-"

"Doctor!"

Rose looked absolutely gob smacked, and he suddenly felt very sheepish. She had no idea about what Pete had subjected him to, naturally. She didn't exactly need the stress, so he nodded meekly and cleared his throat. "Yeah. Sorry."

"Come on, Rose," Pete said, "we'll go in my car." He steered her away from the Doctor. Rose gave him a funny look as she left, the kind of look that meant he was in trouble later. But she was alive, she was okay, the fire was being tackled and hopefully their baby would be okay too. Nothing else mattered to the Doctor. Just as long as Rose and his unborn baby were just fine.


	25. Chapter 25

****_A/n: So this is where we come to the end of what I actually have written out for this story, I'm afraid. There is no more! Please don't hate me. Maybe I'll finish it at some point but, eh... I don't know right now I'm afraid! _

**Chapter 25**

The Doctor had insisted, almost to Rose's annoyance, that he come with Pete, Jackie, June and Rose in the car. It had been more than a little squashed in the back, with June in the middle, dribbling and happily dumping her toys in both the Doctor and Rose's laps. The Doctor had tried to raise his eyebrows at Rose over the infant, but she was having none of it. So instead, he pulled funny faces to amuse his girlfriend's younger sister. Once or twice, he caught Rose smiling, but when he looked, she turned away.

When they reached the Torchwood institute and had all piled out of the car, the Doctor grasped Rose's hand. Grudgingly she allowed him to keep hold of her, but she soon forgot her anger that had never been real anger anyway in favour of telling him all about the doctor who took care of her, Dr Shepard.

The Doctor did his best to ignore the stares that he received as they made their way towards the hospital section of the Torchwood institute. The fact that he was holding the hand of one of their most infamous (at least in the last few months) workers, Rose Tyler, alluded very clearly to the question of who he was.

In the end, Rose decided that she wanted the Doctor to come in with her to see Dr Shepard. He sat patiently in the room, watching the doctor bustle about, itching to help. Rose's family were sitting outside- so much the better; the Doctor didn't know if he could stand Pete in the room.

"How did the fire start?" Dr Shepard enquired.

Rose shrugged as the doctor began running her hands over her stomach. "I'm not sure. It just did."

"Mmm. Well, Rose, I'm not going to lie to you. Being around fires brings a great risk to pregnant women and their unborn children, no matter how long you're exposed to them. I haven't located any anomalies but I'll run some tests and you'll have to come back in a week. All I can tell you is to drink plenty of fluids in that time, avoid skipping meals, and eat lots of protein." Dr Shepard scrutinised Rose for a moment, who was nodding. "If you're feeling short of breath at all, come to me _immediately_, no dithering. All right?"

"Yeah."

"And keep yourself free from stress!" the doctor added, as a seemingly final note. "There's nothing worse than you getting stressed at this stage of your pregnancy- in any stage of your pregnancy- in any stage of your _life_!"

"Okay, okay," Rose said, giving a little grin.

Then Dr Shepard turned to the Doctor. "Are you the father?" she asked. He nodded. "Have you got a moment? We'll need to know about your physiology, run some tests, take a blood sample if you don't mind. Since you're the alien in this relationship, we'll need to know if there'll be any possible complications at birth, that kind of thing. Often difficulties arise when the mother is human and the father is not, and we'll be wanting to make sure that Rose will be just fine having your child."

"She will be," the Doctor said, with a nod.

"I'm glad that you think that way, but Torchwood must be sure." She stressed the last four words, and the Doctor raised an eyebrow. "So, if you don't mind, Mr-?"

"Doctor."

"Just the Doctor," Rose added, pre-empting Dr Shepard's next question.

"Yes. Well I think you'll find that we're the doctors here." Dr Shepard clearly disapproved of the Doctor. He didn't really blame her, if she worked for Pete. She wasn't exactly going to feel well disposed to him. "So, Doctor. Tests?"

After glancing at Rose, the Doctor nodded again, climbing to his feet. "Sure," he said, wearily. Dr Shepard pulled open a door and gestured him down it. He stepped through it, waving meekly to Rose as Dr Shepard told him to follow the corridor and then shut the door again, running her own tests on Rose, to see if the baby was okay.

x

"Rose!"

Pete leapt to his feet as his daughter came out of the room. She smiled and he went to her immediately, putting his arm around her and guiding her to the door.

"You all right, love?" Jackie asked. "You look a bit pale." She hoisted June further up on her hip.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had some blood taken, that's all. Bit tired. I'd just like to go home and-" She stood abruptly, putting her hand to her mouth. "Oh God, where are we going to _stay_?"

"Torchwood's provided us with some rooms for the night," Pete supplied. "Just until I can get everything sorted out. We'll have somewhere permanent to stay by tomorrow whilst our house is being rebuilt. The fire's out, though." He continued walking to the door.

"Well, maybe Rose should stay here," Jackie said, following the two of them out of the room. "I don't want my first grandchild getting into any trouble because we're too far away from here and can't take Rose to a normal hospital because of the alien-ness of her child."

Pete looked over at his wife. "Jacks has a point, Rose. Maybe you should stay here, at least until we're sure that the health of the two of you is in perfect condition."

"With the Doctor?"

"Of course," Jackie said quickly. "Speaking of himself-"

"-where is he?" Rose murmured at the same time as her mother, as they headed down a few corridors.

"Having tests, isn't he?" Pete said. "We need to establish details about his physiology to make sure that-"

"-there aren't any birthing complications, yeah, I know. Dr Shepard told me."

They soon reached the room that had been allocated to Rose, and once both Jackie and Pete had settled her into the double bed and mopped her forehead with a damp flannel, her parents left. Rose rolled over onto her side and snuggled down into the comfortable pillows. They were unfamiliar, but at least they were more cosy than the probably quite burnt pillows that were waiting for her at home.

As she thought of everything that she'd lost, she suddenly began to cry, the reality of the situation hitting her. It seemed as though the last few hours had been part of a nasty dream. She could barely remember seeing Kenny this morning, or the Doctor coming into the kitchen, slightly upset with her.

She didn't notice the door opening, so when the duvet cover was lifted up and someone slid into bed next to her, she gave a little squeak and rolled over. She found herself staring into the Doctor's eyes with her tear-filled ones.

He immediately reached out, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. He kissed her on the forehead and left his mouth lingering there, breathing evenly. She moved her head upwards and their lips met, his coaxing hers open in a soft kiss that made her heart melt. Then she pulled away.

"I don't want to… I just want to sleep, Doctor, I-"

He shushed her by kissing her gently on the lips. "I know. Turn around." She did so, snuggling back into his body as he gave up the covers to her so that she didn't get too cold- without her knowledge, of course. Then he snaked his arms around her waist again, running his hands over her stomach. "I love you," he said softly.

"I love you," she responded.

"Go to sleep," he murmured, leaving butterfly kisses upon her shoulder. When her breathing had slowed down and she had stopped her crying, only then did he whisper in her ear, "You're beautiful, Rose, and I love you no matter how dysfunctional your family is."

Then he rested his head back upon the pillow and closed his eyes, intending to sleep alongside her for the whole night, completely comfortable with being in her company.


End file.
